Suzuki Kanna's Story

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All tables were put against the walls in room 511, on the fifth floor of the Cheocho high building. It made the otherwise cramped classroom feel so much bigger. Unlike the regular courses, the chairs formed a small open circle, so that everyone seated could see each other. “I read it's like, for open conversations, ya know?” Kanna had told Kame a few days ago, but now that everyone had finally gathered for the first meeting of Limbo Avenue, even Kanna had to admit the school furniture looked a little out of place in an alignment like this.

Kanna was shaking in anticipation and her chair was rocking right along with her. For the entire day she had been smiling as if she had got her mouth a perm. Some teachers had commented it was quite unsettling, but Kanna didn't care. The moment was finally there; when the last person in shut the door, she stood up and opened the meeting.

“Welcome everyone,” Kanna beamed with sheer glee. “Thank you all so much for coming. Today is the first day of our club. It's really nice to meet you all.”

She looked at a number of faces she'd never thought to have gathered together in one room, not to mention all the strange auras they had on them. There was Qui Wen who was practically wearing a samurai armour, and Mizuki who looked like she got entangled in a ball of yarn. It was thrilling.

“Let's start with introductions.” Kanna scraped her throat, “My name is Suzuki Kanna and I'm in 11th grade. My hobbies are reading, track-” Kanna paused a moment to wave at Takuhito, “-And want to learn a lot more about phantoms. They can cause a lot of trouble sometimes, but that's why we're all here today. All of us can see phantoms and that is really amazing, which is why it's our job to make sure the don't cause too much mischief. I really look forward to working with all of you.”

Kanna walked over to the chalkboard, where she had (in various curls and colours) written down a short schedule. “I don't think everyone knows each other yet, so please stand up and tell us a little about yourself. After that,” Kanna's smile turned into a grin own to a Chesire cat, “I'll tell you about the first request we've gotten so far...”

“Oh, and there's tea in the back. Please help your selves if you're thirsty.”

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The first session was due to begin and Mizu was walking alongside Yui to the meeting room. She and her were talking, as usual, about random silly everyday things like how pretty Yua was compared to her, how nice Yua was for letting Mizu borrow some of her hair conditioner, all of that fun stuff. Honestly, despite what some people thought, it wasn't as if she minded. It felt good that she could walk beside a friend and make her feel better about herself, and if that was what made Yua happy, she was fine with it. It helped her too, it kept her in check, from thinking too highly of herself, from getting too much of a good opinion of herself. Because, honestly, Mizuki wasn't all that great a person at all, especially compared to Yua.

She received a text. It was from Ichinose again, her boyfriend, and just thinking of his name reminded her of the bruise on her stomach that she didn't cover perfectly with makeup. She didn't have enough time to retouch it, because she overslept this morning and was going to be late to meet up with him before school for a kiss. She didn't want to be late to meet him whenever he wanted it - it only made things worse later on.

Satoshi: Yo, wen r we gonna meet up?? I need 2 talk 2 u

As stealthily as she could, Mizu replied, feeling her stomach drop in cold fear, though she didn't let any of it show. She was instead continuing the idle talk of the latest idols and hot guys and how pretty and cute Yua was compared to the rest of the school.

Mizu: Can't today, I have club.
Satoshi: Club? The only club u got is the go home club Mizu dnt play games wit me
Mizu: I'll make up to you later, promise.

With that, there was no response, so Mizuki decided to leave it alone for the time being. And sure enough, she found her way with Yua to the club room and she sat down, gazing at the other faces. One in particular stood out and... it wasn't one that she particularly wanted to see at all. That was Kaz - the boy she used to be friends with a long time ago before Aria's accident. This was a problem, a huge problem: Kaz knew about Ichinose, he knew about the beatings, if he decided to tell... so she shot him a stealthy glare when no one was looking, telling him with her eyes to not say a word. It hurt to keep him at a distance like that, but she didn't deserve to have a friend as good as him.

Another unwelcome face was Kame, that bubbly idiot from class. However they'd both seen each other's auras before, so it wasn't as if that was a surprise to the glum girl with threads all over her body. She kept a happy face on, though. There was no need for anyone to suspect she was anything other than some random cheery girl with no real backstory or to have anything interesting about her to worry about - especially when she was overshadowed by Yua.

"I'll start, then!" She stood up when Suzuki prompted everyone for self introductions. Mizuki did a little twirl to try and fake her excitement, a natural smile on her face. "You can call me Matsuri Mizuki! I'm in the tenth grade, and share a class with Kame here!" She gestured at the blonde girl, feeling sick to her stomach but hiding it with bubbles and sweetness. "I like singing and video games and I hope to make friends with everyone here! And to protect people from the phantoms!"

With that done, Mizu did a little bow then walked over to the tea at the back of the room, pouring a cup for herself. She glanced over at Yua, making appropriate hand gestures to ask if she wanted some tea as well.

♫ Burn It Down ♫

Kaz sat there in the classroom in silence, sitting in his chair backwards, and listening to his music. His tones blasted in his ears, drowning out any sort of small talk any of his follow club members would try to use on him. He had the volume as high as it could go. Might not be good for his eardrums, but hey, going deaf by the time he's in his twenties is a small price to pay for him not having to deal with people for a little bit longer. His eyes darted around the room, taking note of everyone that was there.

He was curious about the circle of chairs thing that Kanna arranged. Was this supposed to be some kind of knights-of-the-round-table-thing? He would occasionally glance over at Mizuki, staring at her strange aura. Must have something to do with her heart condition. He wondered if all auras represented something about it's owner. It would seem more obvious for some of them, such as his horns, and tail, and Kame's halo. And then there's something like Yua's skeleton arms shooting out of her back, and Qui's shoulder pads, eye, and horn. Maybe it represented something about them that wasn't apparent? Well it was something to ponder, not that he actually cared.

As he glanced over at Mizuki every so often he wondered how she has been. How Aria has been. He wondered so many things, especially if she was still with that bastard Ichinose. Though he had a feeling that he knew the answer to that, much to his dismay. He was brought out of his stream of mental questions by Kanna. Once Kanna began talking, her excitement almost coming off in waves, he rolled his eyes. He slipped his headphones down onto his neck, and paused his music. Kaz sighed when she said they were going to introduce themselves. What was this some kind of freakshow and tell?

Mizuki was the first one up, and introduced herself to the group. He scoffed at her comment about making friends with all of them. Yeah, cheap talk. Once she was done his eyes didn't move away from her, following her as she went to the back of the room to get some tea. Kaz sighed, and got up. "Might as well get this crap over with. Feels like some kind of anger management, or AA meeting." He groaned.

"Name's Kazuki. But call me Kaz....or I'll bust your teeth out, and shove them up your nose." He stated in a disinterested tone. He clearly didn't care to be here. "I'm here to chew bubble gum, and kick phantom ass. And I'm all out of bubble gum." He said with a slight smirk. "And my fun fact is that I'm a hothead.....literally." He stated as the air around him began to heat up, and his body was engulfed in his light red flames. He then let out a deep sigh, and the fiery aura disappeared. "Alright, next one for Freak-n-Tell." He said as he turned around and made his way to the back of the room near Mizuki.

Kaz poured himself a cup of tea, and glanced over at Mizuki beside him. "Mizu." He greeted in a rather cold tone as he went back to his chair. As he sat down he held his right hand below his cup tea, and a small flame formed in the palm of his hand, heating up the tea even more. Once it was nice, and scolding hot he began chugging it. He downed the entire cup in a manner of seconds. The liquid was hot enough to burn anyone else's tongue, but he gave no reaction at all, showing his immunity to the heat.

It started with a meddling ghost who couldn't seem to keep its awful hands out of Tak's life. He couldn't really give the phantom a gender or a species classification because no descriptors truly described its form except blue. It was blue like his tentacles and a darker iteration of Kazue's hair. Unlike before where the signs were exterior, he could see when phantoms came and went (although he hadn't seen his "friend" since meeting it at the temple). Even today, he tagged a tiny ghost but nothing on the scale of who (or what) had haunted him for years.

In all honesty those tiny wisps were what pushed him toward coming to the meeting, well that and Suzuki-san. He'd heard the news that she started a paranormal club for those interested in investigating all things supernatural so he figured that he might as well drop by and say a few "hi"s. Plus, it was possible that he might get some answers for himself and Naomi. The two had divulged their ghost stories long ago (it was hard not to when you saw each other's auras as soon as the two of you battled), but he knew Naomi wouldn't have come unless Takuhito dragged him along.

The two agreed to walk together from class after doing clean-up and certainly before heading to the local comic shop for a look at the new booster packs. That was going to be a treat regardless of whether or not the Paranormal Club turned out to be a bust. He was looking forward to building (very appropriately) a Ghostrick Deck. Not only were the cards cute, but they required quite a bit of strategy in order to properly manipulate opponents.

He grabbed the phone out of his pocket as he entered the club room with Naomi in tow. He was sure that they seemed mismatched given that one looked like a rebel and the other, a boy who belonged in a doujinshi. Inside sat Suzuki, a brown-haired boy (Tachibana?), Mizuki, Yua, a Chinese man and Kame. They'd all already arrived, but Tak wasn't exactly keeping track of attendance. He was sure that Suzuki didn't mind so long as someone showed up.

He took a seat farther away from Suzuki, leaning back as people began their introductions. First was Suzuki who gave the information regarding the club as well as a few things about herself. He'd already known most of it, but what stuck out to him was her aura. He hadn't noticed it all that much during practice but now that she was at the head of the room he noticed the ethereal bell in full. It hung by her ear in an eerie blue color that reminded him that not every aura was horrific. As usual, she managed to bring energy into the room.

Next was Mizuki Matsuri who he knew tangentially through Kame and Yua. She was much, much shorter than himself so seeing her aura unsettled him. Strings wrapped around her body, seemingly binding each limb and connecting to heart yet she carried on as though nothing was touching her. It was certainly one of the more scary auras, although not for the reasons that one would think. It led him to think that either the ghost that haunted her had a strange sense of humor or his instincts were right about her hiding something.

The brown-haired boy stood up with his headphones hanging securely around his neck. His aura, like Suzuki's was subtle taking the form of a devil's tail and horns on his head. At least they were being honest. He gave some spiel about punching people's faces in if they called him by the wrong name and flashing his fire but garnered only some interest from the black-haired boy.

Takuhito leaned over to Naomi, whispering "do you know that guy?" before realizing it was his turn.

Shrugging he stood up and kept his hands in his pocket as he faced his audience.

"Hello everyone, my name's Hoshino Takuhito. I'm a second year. I like track, card games, and adventure," he started (perhaps more uninterested than he intended), "everyone thinks I'm a delinquent, but I'm not. I just get into fights."

He sat down and leaned back in his chair and looked between the rest of the students, wondering who would introduce themselves next.

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Kame had been anticipating this meeting since the first time that her and Kanna had talked about it. Kame had gone through the whole day in a daze, her mind full of a million different scenarios, each better then the last. She was in fact so deeply engrossed with her own fantasies about what the day may have in store, that she had hardly eaten her lunch this afternoon. So as Kame raced through the halls of Cheocho High, she could feel her stomach rumbling, something that at the moment she didn't pay much mind to.

After running all the way up to the fifth floor of the building, Kame burst through the door leading to room 511. Panting a bit, she looked around to see that besides herself, Kanna was the only one in the room. Kame could feel a little bit of disappointment bubbling up inside her at the fact that no one else was there yet, but shaking it off she headed over to chat with her friend while waiting for the others to arrive.

Even though Kanna admitted to thinking that the seating looked strange, Kame felt that it was nice. Sure, something about the way that the seats were arranged did feel very different from how they normally were, but everything about this club was different from normal clubs as well. Kame couldn't help but feel that it fit.

As the other club members began to come through the door in steady numbers, Kame could feel the excitement blooming inside her. Resisting the urge to spin around in glee, she hurried to grab a seat and sit down. Kame watched all of the familiar faces as they took up the empty seats around her. Having seen everyone's phantom auras before the club even began, so it wasn't as though she was surprised. However a feeling resembling that of opening a present on her birthday began to flood through her. Whatever was going to happen in this extremely unique club? What stories would be made?

As Kame once again began to delve into her fantasies, Kanna's voice broke through her thoughts. Watching as Mizuki got up first to introduce herself, Kame smiled happily at the girl as she gestured to her. It was true that her and Mizu shared a class, and as Kame thought about it, she wondered if Mizuki had noticed her daydreaming in class earlier. She surly hoped not, that'd be super embarrassing! After Mizu had finished and headed to the back of the room for some tea, Kame watched as Kaz stood up to introduce himself next. Kaz was somebody that she had been attempting to befriend for a while now, if only he'd ever acknowledge her. Takuhito stood up after Kaz, he was one of Kame's friends and she couldn't help but smile at him as he made his introduction. Kame knew that he wasn't a delinquent like everyone seemed to think, she just hoped that the other club members would see that.

After Takuhito had finished and sat down once again, Kame could suddenly feel her excitement getting the best of her. She had already decided that she would let the other club members go first before she introduced herself, but suddenly the excitement became to great. Shooting up like a rocket, Kame grinned from ear to ear as she happily bounced on the balls of her feet, "May I go next, pretty please?". After receiving no objection, Kame ginned even brighter and continued with her introduction, "My name is Fujioka Kame! I'm in tenth grade with Mizuki, and I love making new friends!" Suddenly feeling like her introduction was to short, Kame racked her head for more to say. "Uh, I like sweet things. Oh! And my favorite color is green! I'm super excited to be in a club with you all!" Clasping her hands together, Kame grinned at everyone in the room before sitting down again. Ah, this was going to be so much fun! As a new wave of excitement washed over Kame she began to swing her legs, waiting to see who the next person would be.

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Thank goodness the day was almost over, Yua had found the whole thing so far to be extremely dull. As she walked down the halls with Mizu, the conversation the two had helped her recover from the past hours. The gossiping and small talk was nice, but honestly today Mizu seemed particularly intent on pointing out the obvious truth. It wasn't as if Yua was going to stop Mizu from complimenting her, but given how often she was bringing it up her friend must have had some ulterior motive. This was something she would have to force herself to shrug off, solving a complex puzzle like her friends emotional status, that was beyond her.

She trusted Mizu, if she had an issue she needed help with, surely she would ask Yua. They had been friends for a larger part of their lives after all. The conversation fell flat as they entered the classroom which this club would take place in. The desks had been shoved to the side, instead chairs showing their dominance over the floor space and forming a circle. Yua took an arbitrary seat and waited for their host, that sporty girl Kanna, to begin the meeting. Aura's were always quite the oddity to her, she had grown used to those she saw quite often, but they were still rather, well, odd to her.

The devil tail on Kaz made sense and was hardly obtrusive to the senses, the earring on Kanna was mild and easily overlooked. The foreigner with the samurai armor, horns, and glowing eye, they had gotten the shortest end of the stick it terms of being obnoxious. On deeper thought Yua recognized him, Qui was it not? He was popular, Yua found that strange, perhaps it was the aura, but he did not seem attractive enough to warrant his popularity she had heard he had. That was something, someone she'd have to look into.

While she was racking her memories about the foreigner it seemed Takuhito and his towel boyfriend had entered. Their auras were pretty enough, perhaps tentacles didn't personify beauty but she would gladly have it over hers. Honestly becoming a medium was quite the annoyance if only for the aura, having two skeletal arms lurking behind your head at every moment is... not pleasant. Flashing a smile at Takuhito, Yua leaned back in her seat and waited the short while it took for the meeting to begin.

After a brief greeting began introductions, first by the leader and followed by the friend sitting beside her. After her introduction Mizu went off to the back of the room where to prepare tea, noticing the gestures Yua replied with a slight nod and smile. Proceeding Mizu was Kaz, as unpleasant as she remembered, it was quite the loss for the club that he was medium but it wasn't as if it was a controllable. The unbecoming boy went off to the back of the room to presumably get himself a drink, or cause a ruckus, whatever hooligans do. Takuhito introduced himself, nothing she didn't know about him, this was turning out to be a rather dull start. Kame followed up, as excitable and loud as always, as of right now it was endearing, if she was sitting beside the blonde Yua imagined it would have been less so.

Not wanting a silence to permeate the room, Yua took a stand and graced them with her words. "I am Koizumi Yua, third year, a pleasure to see you all as I am sure it is to see me." She provided them with a bright genuine sile, well less them, it was directed towards Takuhito mainly. "My interests, well... I play tennis mainly but I'm willing to try anything as long as it's entertaining." Finished, she sat herself down gently, patting out her skirt to ensure everything was in order. Now she simply had to wait for Naomi and the foreigner to do their boring introductions and the group could move on to something that would be entertaining.

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Naomi's reluctance to participate in Limbo Avenue had been apparent ever since Kanna brought up the idea in the first place. He'd made polite noises, but never expressed interest for himself. If he were being honest, he had many things he wanted to discover about Phantoms and Auras. To stop being a Medium was chief of them. No matter how much he tried to pressure the fox that had cursed him with his two tails, it simply ignored his queries and continued to find amusement in his daily struggles. It was time to look for answers elsewhere.

Despite his better judgement, Takuhito convinced him to come to the initial gathering, if only to test the waters. He didn't have to commit, right?

His tails hung unenthusiastically between his legs upon entering the room, already dreading the upcoming introductions that would doubtlessly occur. As more Mediums gathered into the small space, a heavy feeling settled over the air, though no one else seemed to notice the change. Blue eyes tried to identify the source of it, but wherever he searched nothing in particular stood out.

At last, Kanna spoke, alleviating some of the tension. It didn't dispel the strange heaviness, but it helped to focus on something else. Everyone's auras were interesting in their own way, and seeing some of them, particularly Matsuri's and Koizumi's, made him quite thankful he'd been granted something as innocuous as two fox tails.

Introductions began but he only gave them half his attention, finding their auras more fascinating than their words. Takuhito asked him a question but before Nao could respond he stood, missing the blue-haired boy's response. By the time he finished, Nao had already forgotten about it, studying her silver halo while her words went in one ear and out the other.

A silence descended upon the room at the end Qui's introduction. Nao was already looking expectantly at Kanna until he realized she was looking back at him. When Takuhito gave him a light jostle he scrambled to stand, realizing he'd yet to introduce himself to their ragtag group.

"I'm Morisawa Naomi," His tails plainly stated the discomfort he felt at everyone's attention, as if it wasn't evident enough on his face. "I'm a member of the Basketball club though I'm a mere substitute. I really enjoy playing console and card games. Nice to meet you." He didn't stammer, but the tension in his tails only eased the moment he could resume his seat. It was a relief to be out of the spotlight again.

"What kind of request do you think she got?" Nao aimed the question at Takuhito under his breath, though both their eyes looked towards the colorful board. "Her excitement's making me a bit nervous."

If Akira was away he was going to sit in on an AA meeting that evening, he wouldn’t have woken up from his keyboard. Staring out the window seemed like a tempting option, but since the students assembled here today were his future coworkers and lifelines, he might as well show the common courtesy of meeting them eye to eye. But instantly after setting his gaze on what appeared to be a samurai lost in time, he shifted his eyes over to somebody else. The boy was about to follow the theme and give his life story, how he became addicted to alcohol, and how long he had been clean, but a brunette emanating immeasurable levels of jubilation took the lead. She was shining so brightly, Akira almost felt the need to shield his vision from the radiating rays. Kanna was her name. The club president, who willingly took on the task of being on the vanguard of the search for knowledge. Or, rather, the quest to figure out how to not get pranked by phantoms. But he of all people agreed that it was time for somebody to issue a few leashes. Yet mischief was an understatement, based upon what he had seen a while back. After she gave a quick synopsis of her hobbies, she passed the invisible talking stick with that unique smile of hers. And just like that, Kanne found herself at the top of Akira’s list of ”People most frightening when they go yandere.”

The next one was someone who seemed to be over-acting way too much. Matsuri. A fellow lover of music and video games, she had already struck two chords with Akira. Although he wasn’t exactly as apt to make buddies as she came off to be. The next member to go wa- ”Holy crap he’s short.” He mentally commented when the guy stood up. He quickly glanced at his shoes, and to his surprise, the redhead wasn’t wearing any footwear to augment his height. Kaz, or preferably Kazuki, probably compensated for his short stature by being able to kick Akira’s ass a dozen times over. But he also seemed to have the same idea about the whole “AA meeting” charade. Great minds think alike, as they say. Or maybe Kaz secretly had the ability to read minds, and thought Akira’s line was nifty and used it before he could. Maybe he was an avid gamer too, after ripping off Duke The-Turd-Thrower Nukem with a reversed version of his iconic catchphrase. Next up was a student who was bound for a career as a bouncer.

... "everyone thinks I'm a delinquent, but I'm not. I just get into fights."

”Yeah? And you probably come out unscathed and with a few war trophies, eh?”

But the next person. The next person. Her. Akira felt himself sinking into his uniform as the energy levels in the room suddenly skyrocketed. He knew this sense of over-encumbering happiness far too well, as it was forced upon him after perpetual attacks. Now his sense of grief automatically dulls whenever she’s around, as he can only feel an infectious surge of elation. Of course he resisted it, but the end result was an intricate relationship between the two. ”No kidding your favorite color is green. The day I see you without that jacket is the day of my death.” And that grin. Kame was one of the few people Akira had pegged as a friend. It was obvious who was the more amiable of the two, but no matter how difficult he was, the girl could, and would never be deterred. At some juncture he ended up waving the white flag. He expected the blonde to go on for hours, but she kept it surprisingly succinct. The boy was honestly surprised how straightforward she was. Good for her, progress was made this day. But she would probably regress right after this meeting.

Next was a tennis player, a total princess of a girl. Literally. He could feel upper-class pride exuding from all the way on the opposite side of the circle. Akira took this chance to indulge himself in some of the aforementioned tea. Maybe the taste of mass-produced plebeian water would get the scent of aristocracy out of his nose. The young detective sat up from his chair and paced his way over to the table, meanwhile the samurai, who turned out to be a not-so smooth criminal, promised he was going to be handing out his number as much as he does with IOU’s. He didn’t even know he was in the same grade with such a brash person, and frankly, he could have gone on living not knowing.

Akira chose and cup and poured himself some tea. That soothing aroma was irresistable. He continued to listen to the last member, a basketball player, a wolf in sheep’s clothing he guessed. As the boy turned around with his mouth pressed to the liquid, he felt a slew of gazes fall upon him. He raised an eyebrow then glanced at the cup, ”If you all wanted me to pour you some, could’ve just asked?” Akira joked with a smirk before lowering the beverage. ”11th grader. Akira. Don’t call me anything but that. Especially not Aki.” That last part was specifically directed at the blonde he narrowed his eyes at for a moment before continuing, ”Hobbies, right. Well, I’m glad that I’m not alone as a slave of triple A titles. I’m also a detective. An unofficial one, to be precise. I’ve seen some things I’m not at liberty to talk about, but I may have a ghost story or two up my sleeve. Though I’m not sure they’ll be that frightening given that such things are but a part of our reality now.” He paced his way back over to his seat and reclined, ”I’m actually surprised, really. From childhood, all, or most of us were told that such things were but a figment of our imaginations. You all seem quite calm after having come to the same truthful revelation. I’m glad my comrades have a grasp on reality now.” The irony is, what they’re tracking is as phantasmical as stuff can get. But in all honesty, he was interested in seeing how Kanne would lead this little coalition against the forces of mischief.

It was time to untangle the threads of reality.

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“You've all heard about the withering crops of the gardening club, right?” Kanna started after everyone had made their introductions. The gardener's club had built a small custom greenhouse on the roof of the school building, in which they grew stalks and vegetables. Occasionally they'd be served during school activities, but this year not even a single tomato had been going around the cafeteria. “Almost nothing is growing as it should, but there's nothing strange about the weather... It's something else completely.”

Kanna walked over to the window and began to hum a mesmerising tune. The vibrations could be felt in the air, almost as if the melody was taking physical form. Soon schools of fish came into the view on the other side of the window. It was instantly clear these fish were phantoms. For one they were swimming in the air and secondly, even when stripped from their dimensional coat, the fish were transparent and passed through solid objects.

“The school has commissioned us to take care of it. I think these little fishies are responsible, and if you'll follow me I'll show you why.”

A single flight of stairs later, the new club members would feel something just as unnatural as the flying fish. It was difficult to breathe on the roof. Certainly they stood on a five story building, but the air was as thin as if they were atop of a mountain.

The greenhouse wasn't the most impressive ever built. Rather, it's fundamentals were wooden boards in the shape of a prism, supporting several layers that looked like white plastic. The way it looked, was more of a net tent than a glass house. Inside of it were planters and pots, with weak and small vegetables in them. Both inside and out, the fish were casually swimming, completely uninterrupted by the arrival of the students. Maybe the phantoms couldn't seen them, or maybe they didn't even care.

“These guys are our first mission. We have to get them out of here. Does anyone have any ideas?”

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Kame sat contently as the remaining people in the room began to stand up and introduce themselves. Yua was as regal and precise as ever, smiling brightly at her, Kame gave her a little nod after she had sat down. Qui's introduction on the other hand had left her a little confused. Why would he only be giving his number to the girls? Shouldn't the guys have a chance to be friends with him to? Head tilted a little in confusion, Kame was pulled out of her thoughts by the timid voice of Naomi, the next person up. She could tell that he was nervous due to his phantom aura, so Kame attempted to give him a soothing smile. She could only hope it worked, the boy seemed scared enough of her. It was then that all eyes turned to Akira in the back of the room. After making a joke which Kame couldn't help but giggle at, he proceeded to introduce himself, looking specifically at her when he told everyone to use his full name. 'Huh? When have I ever called Aki Aki? ....Wait.' Kame thought to herself, slight panic suddenly bubbling up inside of her. Had she unknowing given her friend a nickname that he didn't even like? What kind of friend was she?

Kanna was the person who interrupted her train of thought this time. After ceasing the uncomfortable shifting that had been accompanied with her previous panicked thoughts, Kame gave her full attention to her friend. She had heard from some of her friends that were in the gardening club that none of the plants had been growing right, but Kame had never considered that Phantoms could be behind the phenomena. When Kanna walked to the window of the classroom and began to hum a melody, she couldn't quite believe her eyes when several schools of fish swam into view. Jumping out of her seat and rushing to join Kanna at the window, Kame stared memorized at the little transparent fish. "They're so cute!" she practically squealed as she watched them swim through the air.

Kame couldn't help but look incredulously at Kanna, these cute little fish were causing the problem? Following close behind her as they walked up the next flight of stairs, Kame's eyes once again opened wide when they reached the roof. Tons of the fish were swimming around the garden without a care in the world. When Kame inhaled in excitement she realized something however, the air up here was extremely thin. Even if they were on the sixth floor, Kame knew that the air shouldn't be this bad. Feeling slightly lightheaded from the sudden lack of air, she realized that this could be a good time to really try out one of her powers. Closing her eyes, Kame focused on enabling one of her anomalies that Kanna had called 'Clean Breath'. Feeling a sudden change in her chest, she opened her eyes once again and took a much needed breath. Amazing, it had worked!

Walking slightly closer to the Phantoms, Kame wracked her mind for a way to stop them from hurting the garden without hurting the fish. While she definitely wasn't the smartest of the bunch, Kame knew that she could figure out a peaceful way to remove them. Going through her own list of anomalies, Kame knew that there wasn't really anything that she could do here, but a sudden thought hit her. Kame recalled when she had questioned her friends about what their abilities could do. Spinning around and rushing over to where Yua and Takuhito stood, Kame excitedly asked "Hey! Do you guys think that you could do that thing where you make nets appear to catch the fish?".

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Auras really were a weird thing, weren't they? Mizu glanced at her own, almost forgetting it was there - she had the threads surrounding her body for a long time now, it felt as natural as a spiritual circulatory system that all centered on her heart. Though admittedly there were scarier things out there. Yua's arms were definitely a shame - the girl was so cute otherwise! And... Wens armor and glowing eye was incredibly distracting and disconcerting.

"Kaz." Mizu murmured as he walked by. She hoped beyond hope that he wouldn't tell anyone, that he'd keep it a secret, that he wouldn't ever tell about Ichinose or her heart. Yua at least had the grace to keep the heart a secret but she wasn't sure if Kaz was still bitter about the way she ended the friendship. He mostly likely was, and the fact that they were now clubmates was definitely not a good thing in any capacity.

With the tea gathered, Mizu promptly registered all the information gathered from the rest of the club, handing the cup to Yua with a grin. "Sorry if it's too hot." She whispered, still doing her best to maintain her friendly facade around everyone. Yua's strong personality and cuteness was the perfect way to hide and not be noticed, after all. Hoshino, Morisawa, Kame, Mizu kept it all in for future reference, making certain to be wary of Akira in particular. Other than Kanna, he was also a threat to her secrecy, wasn't he? A detective, just what she didn't need around. He probably had some sort of truth-seeking power somewhere and that'd just make everything worse. The girl's stomach flip flopped uneasily, wondering if maybe she should just drop out and go back to Ichinose and let him punch her until satisfied.

Kame, though. Someone like Kame, was she really suited for something like being a medium? Mizu remembered, she knew the dangers and what happened to her sister, Kame was too kind and friendly and idiotic, she'd never be able to handle it. It was too dangerous for someone like her! She'd be the one to willingly step into a stranger's van if he offered stuffed animals and candy! She was so infuriatingly helpless!

Once introductions were over, it was time, and Suzuki lead them up to the ceiling to deal with the garden problem. Almost immediately Mizu felt her breath quicken and she felt her heart thump cautiously, remaining incredibly aware of the shift in the air. And when Suzuki hummed - and Mizu saved to her memory that she seemed to have tune-based abilities the way she did - the apparent culprits made their presence known. Fish. While Kame turned to Yua and Hoshino and seemingly everyone was focused on the fish, Mizu went to Kaz and hummed, bringing the both of them to a separate plane so no one else could hear them.

"Let's pretend we don't know each other. Understood?" She forced a smile at her former friend, standing at a distance from the rest of the group, with shallow breaths due to the thin air. Honestly the lack of oxygen was putting extra strain on her heart and she didn't feel well - but for the moment she'd be fine despite the flushing of her cheeks and the dizziness. "No one needs to know. About.... you know. Okay?"

With a grin she ended the hum and returned to the rest of the club, smiling brightly, trying to take deep breaths to stay conscious. "Kaz could use his fire once the fish are caught in the net." The threaded girl added in order to pretend she and Kaz were discussing a plan to deal with the fish. "Assuming the fish are the problem, that is."

♫ I'm Not Okay (I Promise) ♫

Kaz sat back as everybody began introducing themselves, only half paying attention as he slipped his headphones back on, showing a clear lack of interest to whatever they had to say. Chances were that it wouldn't be that interesting anyways. Though when Yua came up he did move one of the speakers off of his ears to hear what she was saying, if only to jump in to make a jab at her. "It's about as pleasant as seeing an rash. And tennis? I thought you were in band, heard you like playing the flute. And other such instruments that require you to 'blow' on. But then again you probably do like ball handing." He smirked, hoping to take her down a few notches.

After making that comment he slipped the speakers back on, returning to his music. Once the last person, some Sherlock wannabe went on, and on Kaz slipped his headphones off once more to see what he was going on about. "Juries still out on that Dick." Kaz chimed in. He chose to refer to him as dick since that's another term for detectives, and it sounds like he's insulting him. Win win for Kaz.

"For all we know it could just be some kind of tumor in our brains that's made us go insane, and this is all in our heads. Or one of our heads. However you wanna look at it." He stated as he leaned back. He's not the most open minded of people when it comes to the paranormal, even after all he's seen, and done with him being a human flamethrower. "Gotta keep perspective Dick." He added as he leaned back in his chair. It was soon that the introductions were over as Kanna had taken control of conversation to talk about their 'mission'.

He watched as she summoned the Phantom fish into the room. "Seriously? Our first job is to fumigate the damn garden? Lame." He stated. As the group began leaving the room he hung back for a second. He glared at the Phantom fish left in the room, and held up his right hand. His hand was wreathed in his flames as he made a fast sweeping motion that sent an arc of his fire at the Phantoms, destroying them upon contact. "Creepy bastards." He muttered as he left the room to quickly catch up with the rest of them.

Once they reached the rooftop Kaz adjusted rather quickly to the thin air, he was a skateboarder after all, and was used to it. He folded his arms as Mizuki came over to him. He already knew what she was going to say. He watched as she masked their conversation with her tune abilities. He rolled her eyes when she spoke. "Whatever. You vastly over estimate your importance in my life. Like I said before, I'm here to kick Phantom ass, not to swap ghost stories, or have sleepovers, and make friends. You got nothing to worry about, it ain't none of my concern, you made that perfectly clear last time."

Once they rejoined the group Kaz let out a sigh for being volunteered to take care of them. "Yeah, unless it's cool that I blow the entire thing up, someone might want to gather them up. I could take them out in one shot. No muss, no fuss." He stated as he cracked his fingers.

---

Yua stifled a giggle, bringing a hand to her mouth as Qui informed them that he would be giving the ladies his number. So upfront, utterly lacking in any sort of dignity or delicacy, was this attitude what was making him popular with other girls? His primary free time activity was sleep, do girls get a kick out watching him lay around like a mangy cat? Pushing the questions from her mind Yua listened to the following introductions, Mizu returning to her side part way and giving her a hot tea. Whispering a quiet thank you to her friend as to not interrupt the current happenings. The last boy to go was something else, she had initially overlooked him but when he stood she couldn't help compare him to an animated corpse.

After the 'detective' finished his rather long speech, everyone in the room had finished their boring and largely unnecessary introductions. The ever so eloquent Kaz had some gracefully put together replies to Akira's drawn out speech. It reminded her of a child arguing, he had nothing to stand on but fought for this point anyway. Of course they didn't have brain tumors, well except perhaps for him, Kaz certainly was proving his own insanity point. Finally Kanna could brief them as to their first task, which she promptly did, which promptly left Yua disappointed. Their task was to take down a school of fish that were stopping plants from growing? She didn't know what to expect from the missions they would receive, but it certainly wasn't this. Clearly Kaz had the same opinion on the matter, which Yua took as more of an insult to her character then any of his earlier remarks on the matter.

With no desire to dilly dally, Yua followed the rest of the group to the rooftop, the stairs bringing rather unwelcome news as she climbed them. It became difficult to breath as they ascended, and once on the roof the air was outrageously thin. Yua disliked the sensation of having difficulty in one of her most basic duties as a human, she wished to be finished here quickly. The first to provide a solution was the bubbly Kame, who dashed over to where Yua stood with Takuhito nearby. "Hey! Do you guys think that you could do that thing where you make nets appear to catch the fish?" Net thing? Yua raised a finger to her chin, pondering for a moment as to what the blonde was speaking of. A clear 'ahah' displayed across Yua's face, recalling that strange ability she did in fact have.

A smirk spread across her face as she turned to Takuhito. "Oh my, I didn't know you had such a useful power Takuhito! I'd just love to see you use it." Yua spun on her heel, softly twirling herself into the boys side, grasping his arm and looking up to his face with a large smile. "If you impress me I'll swoon, and fall for you on the spot!" Yua giggled, releasing the boys arm and hopping away from his side. She didn't trust her own strength in that particular ability, not enough to try and catch that school of fish anyway, so passing it off with some theatrics and fun seemed good to her.

"What kind of request do you think she got? Her excitement's making me a bit nervous."

Takuhito shrugged at his question although intrigue was evident on his face.

"She's always been pretty adventurous so it's probably something crazy like a haunted house," he mused, noting the nervous twitch in the blue boy's tails, "but knowing this school it might be more in her head than actually interesting."

If anything he was pretty sure that it would be something minor if not nonexistent. It wasn't to say that he thought she was making things up, but that ninety percent of the time things that seemed paranormal were unlikely (but still logical) coincidences. Still, the ten percent was what brought everyone here.

He noted the auras of the other members who began introducing themselves, admiring Qui's samurai armor but mentally cringing when the tall boy opened his mouth. While Tak had no problem with how apathetic he sounded the blatant attempt to flirt with the girls with the club was misguided at the least and gross at the worst (seriously he looked like he belonged in college). Was he even here to investigate things or was he using his aura as an excuse to hit on people? Both seemed rather reasonable, but he didn't want to let his instincts get the better of him. Kame was pretty oblivious to romance and Yua well...

He glanced over at her, thankful to find her giggle to be aimed toward Qui Wen rather than with him. It wasn't to say she couldn't handle herself, but the extra security was comforting for some reason.

Plus she's more perceptive that people take her for.

The next boy however, was even more cringe-worthy, so much so that Takuhito was pretty sure his jaw broke. He stood up to pour two cups of tea for himself and and Naomi before sitting back down and sipping slowly. Was Asada supposed to be Samejima? Or maybe a future Hannibal Lector? The boy reeked of a god complex and pretentiousness matched only by his introspective style of speech. Honestly Takuhito thought he might have been sent from the philosophy club to recruit potential members. The dark rings and messy hair would have fit perfectly to be honest.

Still, Asada wasn't being contrarian. Takuhito stared at Kaz for a second before shrugging.

"I mean if there was any game I had to live out a game, Saya no Uta wouldn't be that terrible."

At that point, Kanna stood to explain the situation and confirm the suspicion that Takuhito already had: namely that the task sounded more exciting in her head than in actuality. Even if the fish were an issue they certainly weren't on the level of a giant dragon wrecking town. This was more...clean up. Nontheless, he followed the rest of the group up to the roof where Kame and Mizuki came up with the idea to trap all of the fish in a net before burning them using Kaz's ability. Naturally Yua felt the need to egg Tak on.

He glanced down at the purple-haired girl and pressed his lips together. He needed to keep it together. She was probably being friendly. People could be friendly and affectionate if they wanted right?

"I mean I'm sure everyone has that power right?" he said.

Of course, as quickly as she clutched onto him she walked away with the offer of...love? Admiration? She needed to be clear, but he knew that it wasn't the current priority.

So instead he turned to his best friend.

"How about it Naomi?" he asked, "are you up for some fishing?"

”Something smells fishy.”

That’s what Akira’s father usually muttered when the dots didn’t connect. But such a generic phrase actually shrouded a mind in the midst of intensive mulling. One should always draw every possible scenario, rather than instantly jumping to the conclusion that fit the best at the time or seemed the most feasible. So, when Kanna mentioned that the Gardening Club had ran into a bit of a snafu, Akira went into autopilot and did what Akira did best. Mull. Was there something wrong with the fertilizer? Did the club’s funds suddenly get axed, forcing them to purchase essentials of lower quality? Did Kazuki not find the boys’ restrooms to his liking and decided to replace the green part of greenhouse with an out? All seemed like pretty legitimate causes. But then again, he was in Limbo Avenue, the clandestine paranormal club. Kanna wouldn’t have mentioned the greenhouse in the first place if it didn’t have to deal with multi-dimensional mavericks in some respect.

But when young Kanna decided to embark upon her career as a singer, she displayed the ability to tear down the dimensional walls that sect off the humane bottom feeders from the other-worldly wonders. Something didn’t “smell fishy” just because the prelude didn’t make sense. No, no, there were actual fish in the equation. And a lot of them. If there was some poissonnier in the general vicinity who also happened to be a medium, they probably just shat enough bricks to build a two- scratch that, three story house, with a built-in pool and a dog named Spot. Akira gave a whistle out of admiration as he made his way over to the window. Kame didn’t hesitate before showing her uncontainable awe to those present, and he didn’t blame her. He planted his palms on the pane and stuck his head out, captivated by the sight. ”So, this is what that certain ability can do? Nifty. I think it’s time for an encore.”

Kanna’s little aria had an effective melodic spin to it. And that was just one out of the many assets the mediums had at their disposal. As the members of the club began to file out of the room, Akira pushed himself off of the sill and followed suit. Once on the roof, he noted the thinned air just before their president announced it. He tried his best to acclimate to the sudden lack of oxygen, cuffing his hands over his mouth.

Then his line of sight locked onto the greenhouse. ”Wow. Maybe their funds really did get axed?” The student internally commented as his clubmates began to formulate a plan, or attempted to at least. He didn’t really have anything that could assist them at the moment. Although he was half tempted to slice through the fish currently swimming through his abdomen right now, he managed to restrain himself. ”Alright, you guys keep doing… whatever it is you’re doing. Gonna go check out the makeshift greenhouse. Pray it doesn’t give way when I’m inside.” A wave was directed at nobody in particular as the boy slowly walked through the ocean of transparent fish.

Arriving at the culmination of the Gardening Club’s finest architects, he cautiously raised some of the plastic and poked at one of the wooden facades. ”Ok… Seems to be somewhat stable. Really feel sorry for the room below if this thing falls apart.” No signs of recent visits, no personal belongings, nor the scent of Kazuki’s pee. That outlined human intervention from the scenario. Akira narrowed his eyes at the closest plant, as meak in appearance as it was, it was essential to this whole charade. He kneeled down next to the shelf to level himself out and began to analyze the greenery barely hanging onto life. The young detective clicked his tongue as fish persisted on flying through anything tangible, getting in the way of his focus. ”Remember, just waft. Don’t directly sme-” Fish. It smelled fishy. As he suddenly inched closer to the plant, it sent him flying back a foot.

”One inch forward, a whole foot back.” He internally commented as he coughed. ”Damn, ok. That was unexpected.” After Akira managed to get to his feet, he exited the little compound and was met by somewhat clean air. It wasn’t too breathable, but it was better than in there. ”Bonafide conclusion: The fish are involved. Crowd control tactics would probably be the best solution, have over there hotshot sauté all of them in one sitting,” He advised as he paced towards Kanna, keeping his collar over his nose, ”And if the thin air still remains, we can see if there are any more dimensional layers inside the greenhouse. I was going to attempt it, but I’d rather not have a plant monster eat me whole.”

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He found himself chuckling at Takuhito’s response. Naomi liked Kanna well-enough, but he was inclined to agree with his friend.

The black-haired man poured some tea for them both and he gratefully accepted the warm liquid to calm himself down. Too warm. He was forced to blow across the surface in an effort to bring it down to a more manageable temperature. It was probably Kaz who reheated the tea; he couldn't imagine the kettle retaining this kind of heat for so long.

Only half-paying attention to Kanna’s words, he directed his gaze towards the window much like everyone else. So the fish were the assumed cause? It was probable, but inconclusive. When everyone stood he followed, feeling awkward at leaving half-drunk tea but not wanting to get left behind. He was the last to leave the room and he shut it behind him, feeling a modicum of relief from the feeling that nagged at his gut ever since everyone had gathered within.

The higher they went, the more difficult it became to breathe. The heavy feeling in the air grew stronger, forcing an expression of concern to show on his face as they studied the makeshift greenhouse. Blue eyes continued to peruse the fish. Were these the cause? Certainly his chest felt heavier up here, but they didn’t feel at all malicious in their intent. Probably just lost.

“-some fishing?”

“Sorry, what did you say?” Absorbed as he was in his study that he failed to notice the conversations around him. It was then that Asada spoke, giving him a basic rundown of the plan.

A clear look of disappointment formed on his face as he listened to the last bit. Even his tails lacked luster. “Do we really need to kill them? It feels like an extreme loss of life for a simple conjecture.” A bright red and yellow fish swam just past his hand as he raised it to block out the sun’s glare. Honestly, he was quite fond of them now that he could see them. They were pretty and there was a thrill in knowing not everyone could see it. “We’re not even sure if they're the cause. Wouldn’t relocating them elsewhere be the better option?”

---

---

While everyone was discussing and formulating plans, it was Akira who stepped forward into the greenhouse. Kanna didn't pay attention to it, but instead tried to join the conversation. “I think catching them is a good idea, but I'm not sure about the fire. They don't seem to try and harm-”

It was then everyone heard a large thump. Akira had fallen onto the floor inside the greenhouse. He managed to get up quite easily on his own, but – something that spurred Kanna's eyes wide-open, the boy detective had not noticed his head was bleeding. Akira tried to relay a conclusion, but his speech wasn't as coherent as before. There was something about... Plant monsters? Kanna quickly got under Akira's shoulder to support him, as the boy's stance started to sway. “Does someone know first aid?” She hurried to ask the others. Kanna had only given the greenhouse a quick glance, but there didn't seem to be any living plant inside... Let alone a monstrous kind. Perhaps it was the lack of clean air that had gotten to Akira?

“Can someone help me carry him inside?”

---

---

Yeah, that was true, wasn't it? While Mizuki was no stranger to pain, she had more difficulty handling pain of an emotional sort. Kaz's harsh words stung and tore at her inside and she lamented how they used to be, how close they once were. It was gone now, all gone. Whatever connected her and Kaz snapped, just like when she snapped one of her threads. Kazuki was unreachable and the part of her heart that once had space for him only screamed with agony, none of which Mizu let show on her smiling (and incredibly fake) face.

Mizu shot Yui a face of concern, hoping she was coping with the thinned air but her concern vanished as the girl clung to Hoshino. Feeling uneasy and restless, the Mizuki turned away, deciding to sit back and remain silent as the others convened and planned, watching with mild curiosity as Akira walked into the greenhouse. She had to be careful, she had to make sure to test how perceptive everyone was before doing anything overt, before risking anything. Although her mask was flawless around Yua, it was hard to tell how many others would be able to see through it, especially with Kaz here messing everything up. In any case, Mizu's powers wouldn't be of any use for this situation, so there wasn't much she could do but let the others take care of it. So she focused on maintaining her breathing, on becoming accustomed to the change in air.

Well, there was one thing she could do! As Suzuki asked for help, Mizu darted to support the detective's other side. As long as she kept a friendly face with him and gave him no reason to suspect otherwise, it'd be easy to stay away from his scrutiny, right? So Mizuki propped Asada's other arm over her shoulder. "I'm here to help!" She chirped, her voice a chipper warble. Just to try and look extra trustworthy, Mizu decided on another plan. She wasn't sure if it'd help, but it was worth a shot. "Sorry about this, Asada-senpai." Mizu then placed her mouth over his by just a tad, breathing into him using her Heart Breath technique, noticing her threads becoming just slightly thinner while his bunny ears looked a tiny bit fluffier. "Don't worry, we didn't kiss." She said, a little louder to prevent any silly rumors forming - especially from that over excitable Kame.

After helping Asada back to the top of the stairs, Mizu sat down herself, feeling slightly winded from the thin air and the usage of her breath ability. Hopefully that display made her something uninteresting, that she could play the part of your average cheery bubbly girl that had no substance. It'd be nice if everyone fell for the facade, wouldn't it? A part of Mizu's mind knew very well that life wasn't going to be that easy, though.