Suzuki Kanna's Story

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---

---

Kame had been pretty proud of her plan to get all of the fish rounded up so that they could be peacefully removed. However, when Mizuki came up with the idea for Kaz to burn all of the fish once they were caught, she nearly had a heart attack. Shocked speechless, Kame could only watch in horror as everyone seemed to just go along with the plan to burn the fish. She could hardly believe that her lighthearted suggestion could end up causing the death of such innocent little Phantoms.

Kame practically overflowed with relief when Naomi stated his dislike for plan. Grabbing hold of the boy's arm and practically spinning him around from happiness, Kame exclaimed, "Yes! I agree with Naomi! The fish don't realize that they've done anything wrong, if they are really the cause for this, why should we punish them?"

With Kanna's agreement on the whole fire situation, Kame gratefully breathed a sigh of relief. However, before she could even finish speaking, a thump rang out through the roof. Her head quickly swiveling towards the noise, Kame was once again thrown into panic at the sight of Akira collapsed next to the greenhouse. Kanna was the first to rush over to him, helping to support him. Mizu also answered the call for help, but this is where things got a bit difficult for Kame to wrap her mind around. Mizuki leaned down and pressed her lips to the boy. She immediately got up to say that they didn't really kiss, which lead Kame to assume that she'd used one of her abilities on him, but still! It was sort of strange, I mean, couldn't she have just taken him to the nurse's office? Kame's mind was once again spinning with thoughts. Did Mizu like Akira? Would Akira even remember that kiss? That was a kiss, right? Even though Kame's never kissed anyone before, she was pretty sure that that was a kiss.

Mizuki and Kanna bringing Akira over to the top of the stairs is what broke her out of her mental questioning. 'Ah! What am I doing?? My friend needs my help!' She mentally scolded herself as she rushed over to her friends. The sight of blood on Akira was a bit scary for Kame, so reaching into her school bag that she'd brought with her, she pulled out a napkin that her mother had given her to use at lunch. Attempting to wipe away the blood as gently as she could, Kame pressed her mouth together in concentration, she didn't want to hurt her friend!

When she had managed to wipe away the blood that she could, another thought hit Kame. Excitedly reaching into her bag to pull out her bento box, she opened it up to revel the lunch that she'd barley touched earlier that afternoon due to her anticipation for the club meeting. "Do you think it'd be ok if he ate something? Maybe it'll help him feel better?" Kame asked, looking up at the others. She certainly wasn't trained in first aid, but she could try.

It was then that Kame heard a noise behind her. Turning in time to see a girl with short hair slid down the stairs on her bottom, Kame gasped and worriedly asked, "Are you ok?!" However the girl's question caused her to grin brightly and nod enthusiastically. "Yup! Although, this is only our first meeting. It's... not going exactly to plan." She said a bit awkwardly as she gestured slightly to Akira. "Ah, do you want some? You can have some if you like, but I also need to keep some for my fiend here," Kame offered, extending the bento to the new girl from her position crouched next to Akira.

♫ Fireproof ♫

Kaz crossed his arms as he listened to everybody now not on board with killing the stupid phantoms. He rolled his eyes and let out an exaggerated groan to let everyone know that he was not on board. "Are you kidding me?! They're just Phantoms! If anything they are trespassing, and in some places that's totally a justified reason to kill something!" He shouted in an annoyed tone. He was about to say something else, most likely insulting their intelligence but he was interrupted by the Dick collapsing. He watched as Mizuki leaned down and kissed the guy to do something, though she was adamant that it wasn't a kiss.

"Wonder what your boyfriend would say about that." He muttered to himself under his breath as he turned away from them. He then noticed another medium had joined them. "You missed the Mediums Not So Anonymous meeting." He stated sarcastically as he looked the girl up and down. He wasn't really impressed. He then turned back to the rest of the group, and looked to Kanna. "Hey Oh-So-Fearless leader when you're done coddling Dick we still got an infestation problem here, and I've got an itchy trigger finger here."

"I'm still strongly in favor with deep frying these things. Cause you know, I'm not a pansy." He smirked. As he spoke several of the fish phantoms in questions began gravitating towards him, swimming through the air around him. This only annoyed him further. Kaz crossed his arms, and as each one brushed past him anger was visibly boiling up inside of him as his fiery aura slowly began to envelop him, making it much more difficult for those in his immediate vicinity to breath. But the fish didn't seem to mind, they seemingly danced around him, appearing to almost like him.

"If someone doesn't get these bastards away from me I'm going to burn this entire school to the ground." He growled through his teeth, not finding the fish very charming. "I hate these things!" He growled at them but they didn't appear to care as they continued to dance around him.

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Congratulations, Kaz. You just managed to piss Naomi off, a feat that very few people have accomplished, the most recent being of a cheater he and Tak played against at their usual hangout. Granted, Naomi was running a much shorter fuse than usual. The lack of air and Kame's stunt was making him dizzy, in addition to a heavy feeling which made him feel like he was suffocating. The arrival of the new girl only made him sicker. He just wanted to get out of here, and fast. In someway, Akira's injury was his ticket out of here.

“Sorry, but I don't want to hear about trespassing laws from someone who's all too ready to do living funeral pyre.” Though his voice was soft, it would carry to those who listened. Rubbing his temple, he tried to massage away the headache that formed whenever he let his temper get the best of him. He really did not need another status ailment.

Though his skin had grown pale, Naomi's blue eyes remained sharp enough that it was evident he just needed to breathe... quite literally. His voice was considerably less sharp than before as he approached the injured party. “I can take a look at it, since I take care of things like this in my club." He made his way back to the stairwell, gently guiding Asada down and forcibly seating him down on the last two steps. The injury had started bleeding again, but Asada was lucid enough to understand what was going on around him, so it was just a typical light facial/head wound injury. A lot of blood, but it wasn't as bad as it looked. Plus, whatever Mizuki had done, it was helping it clot around the wound faster... which meant that unless the detective wanted dried blood on his face, Naomi better wipe that fast.

He took out a small spray bottle and his kerchief, spraying the latter with the bottle's contents. Naomi then pressed the triangular cloth against the wound, gesturing for Asada to do it himself. “Just keep pressure on it to prevent it from bleeding any more.” When he was done, he took a seat beside the black-haired boy, some color in his cheeks now that there was room to breathe.

One moment, he was casually wafting at plants on the verge of death, the next, he was ass on the floor and gaze locked on the ceiling. Now this was one of the reasons why Akira was fond of death things. They stayed dead. And their scent was so unique, so distinctly unmistakable, it was horrific yet could be stomached with experience. Dead things were deceased, finished, done, R.I.P., GGNORE, whatever. Live things were manageable. Best aspect of members of the living? They could be made dead. But when something so baseless as the paranormal come into play, all logic flies out the window.

Within a few seconds Akira flawlessly recovered and got onto his own two feet. His eyes focused and moved over to the other entity present. Luckily, it wasn’t a plant monster. But it could have been considered arguably worse. No. 1 Yandere was standing before him, but instead of an adventurous grin stretched across her face, only widened eyes and perturbation composed her expression. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, but it all became clear when he noticed a very familiar red liquid. Or, rather, everything became clouded as blood gathered on his eyelid. ”Oh. Okay.” The boy calmly muttered before he lost all sensation in his knees. Luckily, Kanna had quick reflexes, and caught and supported him in one deft motion.

Normally Akira would have been able to walk on his own with such a minor wound, but the lack of air in correlation to the sudden wave of putrid smell was taking a toll on him. He focused on stepping in lieu with Kanna. ”Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. Right f- ah fuck.” Some ibuprofen would really do the trick right now. But the young detective ended up receiving a whole different kind of treatment. All of a sudden, his vision was completely encompassed by a pair of eyes brimming with feigned innocence. ”Ah, right, the person with the fac- wait why is she so close?” Her hazel irises bore deeply into his own in search of a soul.

She didn’t find one.

She uttered an apology at a cursory pace before she placed her lips over his. Keyword is over, not on. Minor details are key. Especially when pleading that they did indeed not kiss. But the steam practically emanating from Kame’s noggin created a barrier around the girl, impervious to any reassurements made by Mizuki. On top of that, there wasn’t a moment’s delay before Kaz made another asinine comment. Even though Akira’s only known the guy for a grand total of ten minutes, he already wrote that behavior off as ”Kaz being Kaz.” He would seriously have the worst time trying to prove himself innocent if he was to accidentally injure somebody. The two aforementioned maidens proceeded to escort Akira to the stairwell.

Akira noticed Mizuki slumping down next to him out of the corner of his eye, while Kame frivolously treated his wound. It was obvious that her mind was in multiple places at once, but she ended up stopping the bleeding. Naomi also decided to lend a helping hand, and continued to treat the wound once it began bleeding again. It seemed that the fellow was versed with these kinds of injuries, as his worth ethic suggested that he had dealt with this a multitude of times. At least the basketball player didn't give him a physical injury in addition to the emotional one he received after their showdown a few weeks prior. Akira followed Naomi's cue and held the cloth up on his own.

The sound of footsteps ascending the stairs drew his attention, and for a moment it appeared as though a figure was on a collision course with them. Until they stopped short and tumbled four steps back. Wasn’t the most miraculous entrance, but it was surely memorable. That, and the balloons floating over her. So she was a medium too. The more, the more people to deal with Kaz’s unneeded obscenities. It was then that Kame produced an all too alluring bento. A slight smile formed on his face. ”Hm, maybe I should fall on my head more often. Would definitely cut down expenses on cafeteria food~.” The boy joked, hoping to calm down his blonde friend. He sat up and held up a hand to halt the girl, ”Don’t worry, I can feed myself. Just a flesh wound.” Akira grabbed his own pair of utensils and took out a small portion, instantly giving an affirming expression of enjoyment.

”Oh yeah, and thanks for… that, Matsuri-san.” He’d play along for now. Hopefully that act of valor would assist her plight. He could even hear Kaz’s bellowing echoed even within the stairwell. ”Well, newcomer. Just follow that distinctly affable voice and you should find yourself faced with a task. We’ll be out there to join you shortly.” The mischievous side of him wanted to also say, ”Oh yeah, and you know that guy with the hat? Make sure you call him Kaz right off the bat! It would make his day!” But for once he decided to quell that part of his personality. ”Good luck.”

When Naomi expressed his distaste for burning away the phantoms Takuhito hesitated for a moment, having been unaware (or at least neutral to) his friend's growing fondness for the fish.

"I thought you didn't like phantoms," Tak mused until the blue-haired boy continued.

He supposed that it made sense given that these creatures were much prettier than the usual monsters under people's beds and that Naomi wasn't much of a killer compared to Kaz. He was more...vitriolic about his hatred of phantoms which sort of made Tak want to defy the beanie-head out of spite. He wasn't that type of person however; there were more important things to tend to. For example, one of their members had crashed through the greenhouse.

Is this guy really trying to play detective? he sighed as he watched one of the members descend to help him.

Though he felt bad for the black-haired boy, he already had his mind occupied with trying to funnel the fish somewhere safe. At best he could mark each one and release it elsewhere, but the time constraints would be ridiculous. And for that matter, how long would it take? Sure one was fine, but there could have easily been fifty floating around (several of which had taken a perverse liking to Kaz).

For now he would quietly slip his hand for a fish and...

"If someone doesn't get these bastards away from me I'm going to burn this entire school to the ground. I hate these things!"

He had to step in at that point.

"You need to stop there. If you have to resort to threats to get your way, you need to sit down, because the worst these fish have done is kill off the school plants."

He resisted coughing as he felt the oxygen thin, but remained firm about his position.

"Kill or don't kill them, we can decide on that later. For now we should just move them out of harm's way so that the rest of the school doesn't get caught in the crossfire."

---

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“Thanks, Mizuki.” Kanna sighed in relief when the girl almost methodically came to Akira's aid. “Good to have you around. You're a life saver.” Kanna put a hand on Mizuki's back, with reference to their newfound club and Akira both. “Take it easy from here.”

Kame was quick to take over, to Kanna's further relief. A little naïve as some saw her, when it came to caring for others Kame was very reliable. Yet, even with Akira's condition taken off her mind, it wasn't long before the next problem popped up.

Kaz, the self-described hothead, showed himself to be exactly that, to the provocation of Takuhito and even Naomi - a feat Kanna wasn't sure to call scary or impressive. Amidst of it all, a late member, Yuki, stumbled into the middle of it all.

“That's us alright,” Kanna tried to meet Yuki with a smile (almost having to catch her from tumbling into the group) but the commotion with Akira and now Kaz made it shorter lived and less radiant than it would have been a few minutes ago. Their first club meeting was going down a lot more stressful than Kanna had imagined. She'd never been anyone's 'fearless leader' before, so when Kaz started to look at her for answers more than a few shivers started crawling on her back.

“We're in a bit of a bind right now, so everyone's a little on edge.” Kanna apologised to Yuki, while simultaneously trying to disarm the situation. “Kaz, would you see if Kame needs any help with Akira?” She asked Kazuki, but her piercing eyes made it clear it wasn't a request. Kanna wasn't sure how Kaz could help out Kame, but she had to get him out of everyone else's hair for now. “I'll call you if we need the firepower, okay?”

Turning to Takuhito, Kanna pulled a strand of hair out of her face. “Maybe with some kind of bait or something to scare them? But where would be a safe space to keep all these fish?” She twirled a lock of her own hair with her finger, thinking of how this would have been a lot more fun hadn't it been for injuries and Kaz...

♫ Light Escapes ♫

Kaz glared at Takuhito, and Naomi. "They're Phantoms in case you didn't notice that. They don't give a crap about us, so why should we give a crap about them? Screw 'em! The only good Phantom is a dead Phantom." He growled as he clinched his fist tightly. When Kanna 'suggested' that he should go check on Kame, and Akira he rolled his eyes. He glanced around at the others on the rooftop. He was already beginning to feel like this was a mistake. It was clear to him that none of them wanted him to be there, like everyone else.

"Fine! Whatever!" Kaz then swatted away several of the fish phantoms, and began his way towards the stairs. Before he left he turned his head slightly towards Kanna. "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." He stated rather cryptically. "Think about what attracts phantoms, and what attracted these things up here. That's your bait." He added. "When you yahoos finally grow some balls, and realize you can't reason with a Phantom don't blame me when you get in way over your head.' Kaz then proceeded down the steps, and towards Kame and the boy detective, who seemed to be recovering quite nicely.

As he approached them he leaned against the wall, and placed his hands in his pocket. "Our fearless leader told me to come check on you guys." He stated. "Not really sure how I could help, unless you need something cauterized." Kaz then took his right hand out of his pocket, and snapped his fingers, causing a small, but bright spark to shoot out of his hand, and dissipate in the air. Kaz then let out a sigh as he leaned back. "I have no idea why I'm even here." He muttered to himself, though it was loud enough for the others to hear.

Kaz then sighed. "So...uh...what's your guy's special power?" He asked, trying to make small talk. "We're all supposed to have unique powers to us right?"

---

---

Kaz was always going to be troublesome, wasn't he? Sure, trapping the fish in nets and burning them was the easiest option, but yelling and snapping at everyone wasn't the way to convince them of that. You had to play it cool, keep a level head if you wanted to be persuasive. Honestly, it was a little silly and Mizu had a hard time taking his anger seriously. Sure, making friends wasn't a priority... but it wasn't as if making enemies was going to make the team all that cohesive when it came to taking out phantoms. Mizu was also particularly annoyed by the boyfriend comment but she was busy trying to regain her breath and glaring at Kame who was definitely getting stupid ideas from the not-kiss.

Then there was this new girl as Kame and Naomi dealt with Akira. Mizu flashed her best smile at her, but not really caring all that much about her either. She was kinda cute but had one of those annoying 'goody goody' auras that just got on her nerves. Blech, not worth it, not worth trying to get to know. Mizu didn't get why Kame and Naomi seemed to care all that much about the fish's welfare anyways. They were phantoms! Sure, it wasn't as if they were malevolent, but they were still phantoms, and since when did a phantom ever show good will to humanity? Thus, why waste time caring about them? Trusting any phantom would only lead to disaster. Mizuki learned that the hard way, if her threads were of any indication.

"...No problem, Asada." Mizu murmured to the detective. "We're a team, after all!" Hopefully being nice to him would convince him to help her on her quest to dealing with this problem as soon as possible. If they wasted time on trying to find a more peaceful solution, Ichinose was going to lose his patience and be more violent than usual. Her latest bruise hasn't healed yet and she wasn't looking forward to him hitting it for more fun time. Mizu regarded Kaz with a sigh as he came by, deciding against humming to mask it since there were too many people nearby regardless. "There's no need for my boyfriend to know about it, right?" The pessimistic girl said with a dose of sweetness to mask the bite. Unfortunately this now meant that at the very least, the detective would realize they once knew each other. As much as she liked Kaz, it wouldn't do good for her desire to stay under the radar whatsoever. As it was, Mizuki wasn't particularly happy with Asada either, but she didn't realize why. The girl was still oblivious to it, but she was jealous Kame had given him a bento instead of her. That idiotic helpless puppy of a girl.

Still, this was taking more time than it needed to, so Mizuki steadied her breathing until she felt a little less light headed, feeling a bit more energized. "I have strings." Mizuki gestured at them, knowing it'd be less suspicious to just outright say it. "I snap one, and I lose that part of my body. I can make someone lose it too, though, phantom or human." She pointed a finger at one string that disappeared into her brown hair - one of her ocular strings. "I could make us both blind.. but it's not as useful as your fire, Kaz." It was an easy going little smile that felt somewhat nostalgic, like old times.

"I don't disagree with you, though. The fish haven't done anything to deserve consideration from us. There's no reason to not burn them if that's the easiest method." The girl shrugged with a casual smile, not letting her inner motivations show themselves. "There's no reason to waste more time than necessary. They're only phantoms, after all, Morisawa-san." Mizu nodded appraisingly at the blue haired boy before returning her gaze to her old friend. "...You shouldn't feel as if you don't have a place here, Kaz. Having a realist like you is good when everyone else wants to simply reason with the phantoms."

Maybe it was a mistake to show her side on the matter so soon, but she didn't want Kaz to feel as if he was the only one who thought as he did, though it wouldn't be enough to mend what they once had, not that Mizuki even wanted that, really.

---

---

Kame laughed happily at Akira's joke, she was glad to see that he was feeling better. Her stress from earlier had almost completely disappeared by this point, relief and happiness taking it's place. "I'm glad you like it! My mom would be very happy to know that it helped you feel better!" The blond said as she contently watched her friend help himself to her bento.

Kame could hear quite a bit of arguing happening on the roof, it was quite saddening for her to hear people not getting along. However her slightly gloomy thoughts were soon forgotten as Naomi came over to help with Aki. Watching as he expertly applied pressure to his wound, she began grinning in relief. Although Kame had been attempting to stop Akira's bleeding herself, it had just continued to bleed, so Naomi's advise was a big help for her.

Now that things had calmed down a bit with the young detective, she turned her attention to Kanna who had begun to give out some orders. Their leader told Kaz to help her out with Akira since he had apparently been the root of the argument upstairs. Although he didn't seem very enthusiastic about joining them, she gave him a bright smile as he descended towards their group in the stairwell.

Watching as Kaz and Mizu both explained their powers, Kame was a bit amazed. Sure, Mizuki's seemed quite painful, but both of theirs were quite a bit cooler then her own. Then again, she was also pretty happy with her special power, it could be used to protect all of her friends. "Both of your powers are really useful! Mine's actually defensive rather than offensive. I can form a barrier around people. Although, it takes a bit of concentration..." Closing her eyes and holding her hands out in front of her, Kame focused her energy on forming a bubble like barrier around herself. The light glimmered a little off the top before it burst with a pop, leaving Kame grinning a bit proudly in it's wake.

Her mood quickly took a turn when the conversation switched over to burning the Phantoms yet again. "I know that burning the fish might be the easiest way to get rid of them, but that doesn't make it the best way! We have no proof that they did anything wrong, it'd be immoral to just kill them! If I was a Phantom, would you just kill me without giving it any thought?" She asked hopefully, staring over at Kaz and Mizuki with a slightly devastated face.

Kame's mood was switching about as fast as the conversation, which probably wasn't very healthy. As soon as Mizu turned the conversation to comforting Kaz, she regained her need to help her friend, even though the boy would most definitely disagree with being called her friend. Standing up from her position crouched next to Akira, Kame made her way over to where the boy was leaning against the wall. Grasping Kaz's hands from his pockets, she wrapped both of her palms around them. Wearing a very rare serious expression, Kame looked him in the eyes as she delivered her speech. "Even though I don't agree with you on how to take care of the Phantoms, that in no way means that I don't want you here. You're here because we need you here. Even if it doesn't seem like it right now, you're a big help to us, we couldn't do this without you. Everything happens for a reason Kaz, it sometimes just takes a while to figure out why." She couldn't help but recall all of the things that she'd heard about his past, she couldn't imagine how lonely he must feel sometimes. Finally breaking her serious expression, Kame smiled gently up at the older boy, the halo above her head almost causing her to appear angelic.

She slowly removed her hands from Kaz's before he could snap at her to let him go. Plus, she was still a bit confused about the way it make her heart speed up. Tugging on one of her braids, Kame could practically feel the light blush that had taken over her cheeks. She could still feel Kaz's warmth on her hands and it was giving her strange feelings. However as her mind searched for a way to stop these foreign feelings, a different idea popped into her head. Thankful for the distraction, Kame quickly rushed over to her bag sitting on the steps and grabbed her phone. Opening up her contacts, she scrolled through the generously large list until she came across the name 'Yokuza Mirai'. Mirai was a new student at Cheocho High who Kame had quickly made friends with. The girl was also a medium and seeing as how their club meeting wasn't going very well at the moment, she decided that they needed all the help they could get.

Pressing the call button, she pressed her phone against her ear and listened for her friend's voice. However after a few rings, the call was switched over to voicemail. Taking a deep breath, Kame decided to leave a message for Mirai. "Hi! It's me, Kame! I could really use your help right now Mirai, could you meet me up by the roof? I'll explain everything when you get here! Thanks a bunch!" Ending the call, she spun around to face the others and excitedly exclaimed, "Don't worry guys! I've called for some backup!'

---

Her patience was growing as thin as the air up on this god forsaken roof. Even if it made sense for everyone to focus on an injured person, and she knew it was unreasonable to hold it against them, she disliked it. Yua's annoyance only increasing as Mizu stole a kiss that by all means should have been hers. Then tried to say she didn't, if you can't handle rumors don't do it, you have someone who wouldn't mind right here.

Then someone new showed up at the bottom of the stairwell, attention was shifting all around and not focusing on the two things Yua cared about, herself and getting off this roof. She wasn't childish enough to pull some stupid stunt to refocus the attention on her, but that didn't stop the lack of it from frustrating her.

Kaz pissed her off, bluntly put, not even because she cared about the phantoms well being. He was an aggressive ass and it brought her only satisfaction to have Naomi and Tak talk down to him, and subsequently have Suzuki defuse the situation by sending him down the stairs. It was an outrageous number of people hanging around someone for an overall not serious injury. If it was serious he shouldn't be here anyway, ugh, her saltiness over the situation was tangible.

Paying more attention to her surroundings it became apparent only three people were actually left on the rooftop, what a crew. She wanted to be done with this quickly, in no way did she enjoy this lack of oxygen. Her tone and words indicating the discontent she was feeling, "I don't care how the ghost fish are dealt, just come up with something soon or tell me I can leave." Yua couldn't think of a good plan for the life of her, and didn't think her powers would be useful. However she started this so she wouldn't leave until it was seen through through.

She didn't like the anger in her tone, but she didn't say anything she thought was wrong. Yua didn't see these phantoms as anything to worry about the livelihood of. She saw them as fish, and never had she questioned eating fish or the morality of killing fish. Perhaps it was because she was a simpleton, but if the fish were intelligent beyond normal fish surely they could at least talk. However in the end she didn't care if they lived or died, voicing her preference to culling them would only serve to lose some points with boys she otherwise was still doing well with.

Not wanting to hang around at the bottom of the stairs with the man who very regularly called her a whore, she didn't have many choices to deal with the lack of oxygen. "I can't stand this air. I'm sitting down over there. If you need me just say so." Her words were starting to slow down, gesturing over to an arbitrary spot near the railings of the buildings roof, Yua walked herself over. Reaching behind her and grasping the railing, she lowered herself steadily to the ground. Placing her bosom on the ground, leaning her back on the railing and focusing on controlling her breath. Right now she couldn't decide if she would rather get pity attention or be left alone and have this problem dealt with quickly. Probably the latter.

Suddenly, the temperature in the stairwell sharply rose as a certain individual walked in. Kaz truly lived up to the title Hothead. The sense of ease brought by the satisfying taste of Kame’s bento had been burned to a crisp. But after a few more moments of speculation, this feeling of uneasiness was solely derived from his classmate’s previous demeanor. Not that the guy was intending to be all friendly and chipper all of a sudden, but he didn’t seem to move like he was going to shove his foot down Akira’s throat any second. His attempt of friendliness only made the young detective’s posture lean away a bit. ”Jeeze. One-track-minded Kazuki Tachibana over here. Can he verbally and legibly produce a sentence without a word relating to fire? I hope he puts ‘Morgue Owner’ on his career sheet.” Akira awkwardly waved his hand and kindly declined the offer, ”Oh, it’s alright. Morisawa-san stopped the bleeding, but it’s the thought that counts, yeah? Thanks for the offer though.” Seriously. Thanks. Kaz could have offered to scorch his face off, but instead he only proposed a light singe. The thought definitely counted.

But the usually antagonistic Kaz seemed to be second-guessing his decision upon joining the club. Now that was a surprise. Akira didn’t have the student pegged for being capable of critical thinking, but surprises are at every corner, or rather every step given their current location. He wasn’t allotted much time to mull over the trains of Kaz’s thought, since the club members around him decided to hold a little show and tell. While each member displayed their abilities, Akira let out “oooh’s” and “aaah’s” to simulate a crowd that was in actual awe at their unique gifts. Matsuri’s was interesting, but had a single contingency which made it implausible to employ without a teammate nearby. After all, no telling whether certain phantoms could simply detach and regrow limbs on a whim, or if others even rely on the five senses and merely have them for aesthetics. Ah, so much unknown, so much to learn. His mind unconsciously ran scenarios where Matsuri’s ability was bypassed by unaccounted means. But, regardless, she still had an intriguing speciality. Although he had already seen it before hand, Akira never got tired of seeing Kame actually forcing her hyper-active mind to concentrate on one thing. It was truly a sight for the sore eyes. But as soon as the bubble burst, also did any seriousness vibes emanating from the girl, and just like that she was back to her jollity self. Until something came flying out of left field. Way, way, way out of left field. Kame with a negative emotion displayed on her face. Akira would have rathered bared witness to Kanna going full yandere than this. And just as swiftly as her demeanor had changed, she shot up from her crouched position and cornered Kaz in one deft motion. Scary.

After giving the upperclassmen her two cents, she returned to her original character. Akira let out a sigh of relief and looked up at Kaz, staring at him with a stoic complexion. ”Y’know Kaz…uki, maybe you joined us to find out why you should be here. Like how you always hear stories of people embarking upon magnificent excursions to find their ‘true inner selves’, but end up realizing it had been with them all along? I think you may be in the same boat as them. Just trying to find a reason.It’s already there, you just have to dig deep down.” For a few seconds, it may have appeared that Akira’s serious temperament was actually a product of truthful thoughts. Until a wry smile spanned both ends of his face, ”Or maybe you’re just hoping to have an epiphany. Yes, I can see it now! Kazuki Tachibana, the one-man pizzeria! Rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?” The boy threw a whimsical curveball right into the redhead’s side. What he said prior may have been the honest truth, but that was equally unlikely. ”As for the phantoms, I say we give it a shot with Operation: Saving Private Fish. After all, the road less traveled tends to have more rewards to reap, right? Maybe the prez would be more apt to offer us an all-paid dinner? Oh, and as for my power,” Akira, while keeping one hand pressed against the cloth on his head, pushed himself off the ground with the other. ”Might as well follow and enjoy the spectacle~.” The boy chirped as he walked towards Kanna.

He got his president’s attention with a light tap to the shoulder, ”I would personally advise moving them to somewhere with next to no population. I’m gonna try something out, might turn over a few stones for us.” He gently patted the same shoulder and made his way into the less congested part of the rooftop. Akira gave a quick glance to his classmates, all eyes locked on the self-proclaimed detective standing in the plain open, where anything useful was practically nonexistent. Anything tangible, that is. The boy looked up at the sun upon its descent, and with that bright image seared into his mind, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

All at once, a wave of images overflowed his mind. Glimpses of the past, although each only lasted for a fraction of a second, the brief pricks of emotion speedily piled on one another. Greetings. Meetings. Gatherings. Friendships. Confessions. Arguments. Schisms. Farewells, both temporary and permanent. It was amazing how much had happened on this generic rooftop. It was way too much humanity for Akira to stomach. Yet one out of the many seemed out of place. For a second, he almost discarded it as an occult club activity, but after intense scrutinization, decided to go into further depth. Upon speculation, the boy was glad he heavily relied upon his intuition. ”Hm, this interesting… Hey, everybody, check this out!” As his eyes opened, and explosion of fluorescent red light spread out before him. After a few seconds, it began to condense and sculpt itself out. Even though whatever was taking form would remain a stark crimson color, he was able to base his assumptions off of inference.

The first thing the members of Limbo would have was the shrouded figure standing right before Akira with its back facing him. But without skipping a beat, their gaze would have drawn to what’s beyond the two. A gate. It was archaic, an arch of stone with a very tight rim. Red light was uncontrollably seeping out of it. This only lasted a grand total of five seconds, at the end of which the gate’s activity abruptly froze. ”Alright, let’s see, any insignias or clues on ya, big guy?” Akira didn’t dub the ambiguous figure as such for nothing. Whoever it was, he or she towered over the schoolboy by nearly two feet. He paced his way around the individual, looking it up and down. What caught his eye was its face, or rather, lack thereof. The region between the top of the hood to the nape of the shroud was filled with complete darkness. At first Akira suspected that the figure had its back to the sun, or it was on just the right angle to cast that shadow, but he briskly ruled that notion out. The light emanating from gate would have been more than enough to illuminate the individual’s face. So… how? Akira tilted his head and rubbed his chin as he came back around to its backside, and began to look around for any clues to an affiliation. As he was inspecting the apparel, a feeling of uneasiness overcame the boy out of the blue. A little alert had gone off in the back of his head.

Something wasn’t right.

The boy raised his gaze to where the back of the hood should have been, but instead he was met by the same dark void he was just examining. The body was still facing away from him, but the head had silently made a complete 180 and was now peering down at the teen. Akira was expecting something to pop out of the darkness, but after moments of pure silence, the 3D panorama distorted and shattered into particles of the same hue. His eyes were locked on the empty space for some time, until he turned around to face Kanna, who was probably just as surprised as he was. ”Well, I might be able to make a contribution to the brick house that poisonnier was planning on making,” Of course nobody was going to get the joke, ”Anyways, I digress. That seemed to create more questions than answers. Whoever that was, he or she doesn’t want to be found. They just infringed upon the laws of the past just to make that message clear to us.” He ran a hand down his neck and raised his view to the fish, still nonchalantly soaring through the air. Jeeze, that sounded weird. Fish. Soaring. ”You probably know about cults and the like more than I do. Phantoms only spontaneously popped up as causes of murders, so it’s not like I have a lot of reference material prepared.” They hadn’t made any progress, but he may have just revealed a key player in this whole shebang. And maybe many more to come. “Fish are known for having a keen sense of danger. When they sense the blood of one of their own, their innate reaction is to flee. They also steer clear of anything that may ‘cause them harm, which are usually perceived as ripples throughout the water. Shepherding them is a feasible approach. It’s just the moving part, that will definitely be challenging.”

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What had phantoms done to Kaz to make him so hateful, Kanna wondered briefly. She really hoped nobody would pay too much attention to his attitude. Kanna herself was already glad Kaz didn't try to fight her over it. Ah, there was so much to deal with, it was almost making her dizzy!

Kaz did make a good point, though. What had summoned the fish here in the first place? Akira came with the answer; one that made Kanna's jaw drop. “That is amazing." She gasped at the reveal of the young man's power. As the young man's power unravelled the past before their very eyes, Kanna started to understand the detective shtick. This was special... And though it posed more questions than answers - their mystery guest was a head-scratcher in particular, at least it was something they could work with.

“Okay." Kanna put her hands together. “I think there's two things we need to do. The fish aren't seeing us, but I think Kaz and Akira have some good ideas. Let's try moving some things around to see what they care about more than us." She hesitated a little, doubting if she should suggest what she was about to, but before anyone else could speak up Kanna continued; “Kaz is kinda right that phantoms can be unpredictable. I think he should stay here with us just in case." She proposed, as she looked around the group to gauge everyone's reactions. Kanna was still a bit unsure of how the dynamic was going to work out. “Anyone who can help... Eh, keep control, please help too."

“Then about Akira's... What do I call it?" Kanna asked, “Your, vision-thingy, ya know? If someone made the phantoms come here, there must be a reason why. I think Akira and Yua-" Akira's teasing and Yua's reaction to the thin air hadn't gone by unnoticed, “-And maybe someone else can ask around to see if anyone has something against the gardening club? Oh, and we also still have to find a place to move the fish, ya know? So if a few of you could look for a good place, that'd be a big help!"

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As Takuhito finished berating the hothead, he spoke in a quiet voice that would only carry to him. “You’re right, I don’t like them. Doesn't necessarily mean I want them dead.”

Naomi found himself forcing a smile when one of the new arrivals looked towards him. It was a strange habit of his, regardless of whether or not he knew the person. Or even liked them… So long as the grin didn't bear malicious intent. Tachibana didn't seem to posses any. His other companions, on the other hand...

When Kaz showed off his powers, he had to admit he was impressed but his opinion of him being an asshole did not change. Small shoulders simply raised up and back down to show his lack of knowledge. “If I do have one, I don’t know what it is.” And quite frankly, the blue-haired boy wasn’t really inclined to learning more.

With the way Mizuki spoke to him, he could only interpret it as condescending. He was peeved that the brunette agreed with Kaz, giving him a backbone he rarely had. “If we went by that logic, the dog that’s always pooping in the park should be shot down. Or the cat that slinks around here should be killed because it’s stealing food… Even though it’s only doing that for survival. For all we know the fish could be in the same situation.” Naomi personally doubted it was something as dire as that, but it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. Truth be told, even he was surprised at how much he rejected the idea. In all likelihood, he was going against Kaz just for the sake of it.

The conversation took a turn for the serious, to which Nao remained quiet. In this kind of matter, he rather didn't fully express what he thought. Asada smoothly (?) changed the subject to the fish Phantoms and headed up there himself.

Despite his better judgement, he allowed himself to get dragged back up the stairs to watch Asada use his unique ability. The scene the unfolded gave him the chills, zipping up the jacket a little more though it did nothing to warm him up. His tail and ears twitched in wariness, almost expecting the strange figure in the vision to come out at any moment. Whatever color he’d gotten back was gone, and that crushing feeling in his head was back in full force at his return to the rooftop.

Blue eyes met Kanna’s green, to which he replied with a shrug when she asked his question. He had a certain phantom in mind if it came to the species, but since he was privvy to the secret, Nao thought it best if he didn't introduce the old fox to them now. “Maybe they enjoy the sun? I don’t mind being in any group, really.” Personally, he preferred it without Kaz... or even Mizu for that matter. But if he was placed into the same group, he’d do his best to cooperate. Naomi really didn’t have the energy to argue any further than this.

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The request of the detective to check out whatever strange happening he was causing, it did not fall on deaf ears. The entire thing was strange, it didn't mean anything to the seated girl either. Some shadow man with an archaic looking gateway around him, what was this supposed to be? Akira's puppet show didn't last long, and with the spectacle over the leader girl went about giving directions. Yua was thankful she was being told to leave this roof, and was indifferent to the company she was given. Going to talk to normal people would be far more welcome then anything that had taken place so far.

Picking herself from the ground, Yua had no reason to delay leaving the roof and doing the assigned task. She did not care if the detective came with her or not, it didn't matter, if anything his ridiculous dialect would turn people off. Stopping for a short moment to give some words to Takuhito, "Sorry, seems I'll miss your performance, try not to get lonely without me." Walking off she waved a quick goodbye to the group that she would in no way miss being around.

She walked through the hallways, returning to the club room intent on getting her bag. It was still sitting next to her seat, good, it was a mistake to not take it with her. Wandering over she took her phone out and began dredging through the contacts, trying to think of anyone that would know about the gardening club or a place to relocate the fish. She had no idea where the fish would like to live, her only thought was the water, given they were fish. Taking a deep breath of regular air, Yua smiled and plopped herself against a wall, leaning her back against it. It hadn't been long, if she was breathing good air she would give anyone who wished to join her fair chance in doing so.

While waiting, she searched the crevices of her mind for a place these fish would enjoy, a place with plants and water. Did they want water? Probably not the roof wasn't exactly water infested... What was a place similar to a roof where those dumb sky fish could go. Nothing, she could not think of a single place, she had however found two, no three, no that one would not welcome a message, lets stick with two gardeners she could text inquiries about grudges against their club. A message was formulated hastily, sent to one, then copy pasted and sent to the other.

hello~ i got people wondering if anyone is upset with the gardening club for any reason
if you know anyone could you tell me pleeeeease (*^-^)
ill thank your personally, anything you want (*≧∀≦*)

With that done all she had to do was wait, going back through her contacts once more. Yua sent the same text to some kids she knew were collectors of rumors, but anything she got back from them was about as reliable as... something unreliable. Finished with that, her phone remained in hand. Having left it behind she had a few texts from friends, and folk with other intent, to reply to.

In the middle of all the arguing Takuhito had to admire Kanna's calm demeanor. There was no doubt that she could be the one to lead them given that she was able to ease in the new arrival while still figuring out a solution to the issue. He couldn't imagine that it was easy to deal with so many people at once, more so since no one was any more knowledgeable about ghosts than the other. Well except for Kaz in the sense that he thought he knew more. His power was rather fitting given that his only desire was erasing all of the life present in the other realms and hilarious in that the fish were more attracted to him despite it (perhaps like moths to a flame?).

Tak wouldn't be stopping the guy from leaving down the stairs and instead, turned his attention to Suzuki's suggestion before following her down.

"We should see if someone has an attraction type of power," he suggested, "I can't really shuttle them here unless we want to wait for me to tag fish all day."

He tapped his chin as he thought hard for a solution, a bit frustrated that Kanna hadn't thought to ask everyone to introduce their powers in addition to their name and all that topical information. Granted, hindsight was 20/20 but it didn't stop his brow from furrowing. He only came out of his reverie when Asada signaled for everyone to focus on the vision he created.

A tall, dark figure and a bright gate dominated the vision which made him suspect foul play and likely person who could control gates like Takuhito did. He didn't really like using names for powers (they seemed cheesy) but Proxy Gate would proved the simplest explanation along with something similar to his own power. They only needed the culprit.

"We need at least one or two with Paper and someone with Abduction Tune to stay back if anything," he piped in, "Mori-kun and Kame-chan, you should go with them since you both know a decent number of people."

He glanced at Mori, feeling his obvious distaste for the other delinquent in the club, but then at Yua.

"Don't worry there will always be plenty of chances I'm sure," he joked.

Akira peered down the hallway behind him, then leaned slightly over the girl’s shoulder, until he finally concluded that there were no passerbies in the general vicinity. He let out a sigh of relief and relaxed his shoulders. His eyes locked onto those of the only other individual present. There was a tinge of sympathy in those crimson irises. ”So… I guess this is where apologies are in order, right?”

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XX NUMBER OF MINUTES EARLIER

Akira’s bunny ears sprung up at the mention of his leader giving him, Yua, and another unfortunate individual free reign to sleuth around for any answers. A wily grin stretched across his face as he bowed with one arm tucked under his stomach, ”I humbly accept this role bestowed upon me.” He briskly straightened up and scanned across his options. There wasn’t a second delay between the order being uttered and Yua speeding her way into the stairwell. Hopefully the bouncer’s side wouldn’t get cold without Hime minus the dere to keep it nice and cozy. The boy rubbed his chin as he mulled over his assets. His comrade preferably would preferably be a girl, as he would need somebody with access to places far out of his reach. Such as girl bathrooms, or as his father described them, “The Gates To Adolescent Hell.” He wasn’t exactly as creative with names as he was with cracking cases, but the man got the point across to his innocent son.

His mind was still stuck on the other images he gazed into while his ability was active. Sure, he only caught a sliver of a glimpse of every event, but they were all equally singed into his mind. Would take a crap ton of tea to empty out his memory. Seriously, way too many confessions took place in this roof. Maybe the accumulative negative emotions of refusals drew the phantoms here? Such a hypothesis wasn’t too far from feasible. Really, no facet of this situation could be defined as feasible, which made it just that much harder to narrow down anything solid. Akira could remember a slew of cases where reality had seemed to have been completely chucked out of existence. But he could always find something that was overlooked which could bring everybody back to planet Earth. Hell, maybe they weren’t on Earth anymore. They were all secretly whisked away in their slumber, and are now under the watch by otherworldly beings, who are probably laughing their galactic socks off right now.

Yeah, cloaked wannabe illuminati person with a portal sounded more probably.

Akira finally made up his mind and walked over to Mizuki, who was probably internally staring in awe or envy at his top notch ability with absolutely no application in combat. It would be pretty sweet if he could flood other people’s, or things’, minds with the images he had to bare witness to. But that would be too perfect. ”Hey, I volunteer your as tribute.” The young detective spoke with a somewhat wry tone. She probably wasn’t too fond of the notion of being along with the person most likely to dissolve her facade. He towards the stairwell, and following Yua’s suit, waved everybody farewell. He would have to hold himself off from mentally making Kaz jokes for the time being.

Their approach to the situation wasn’t kosher in the slightest. Akira did most of the talking, haphazardly interrupting club sessions. He even ended up interrogating somebody from the other side of a bathroom stall door. Nobody had any controversial statements about the gardening, nor any ideas of where to move the phantoms. ”I mean, how do you ask people, ‘Say, got any ideas where to move a school of flying multi-dimensional fish?’ and not get flagged for drug usage.” The student stopped in the hallway and stared out the window, suddenly finding himself in deep thought. ”You know, if you got any ideas, feel free to sha-” He paused mid-sentence. It was that sense of nostalgia again. But why? It’s not like he’s met this girl before. Or…

Something clicked. Maybe it was the hazel hair, or the viridescent eyes, but it was something. Right. They met a couple years ago. It was only a second-long passing, but there was that faint familiarity. He wasn’t sure how to continue, his eyes were just locked on Mizuki’s face. The boy felt like apologizing, but he wasn’t sure why.

”So… I guess this is where apologies are in order, right?” He started, then without a moment’s delay, followed up, ”How’s your sis been?”

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❝Some people are just born to die. I’m merely here to get them to the other side. ❞
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ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя ✦#800000
тнσυgнт cσƖσя✧#400000

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He had been following his routine as he always had. Always avoid them when he could and stay out of sight. Thankfully his supposed creepy nature helped in that endeavor. The young man hardly had to worry about it as he had grown to understand their schedules, especially hers. While he did not know her personally, Makoto had overheard how rambunctious her curiosity was and he wasn’t the type to enjoy being under a scrutinizing eye that was trying to understand him.The only people or creatures that he felt that could understand him were the few phantoms that he had befriended over the years although they acted more as a soundboard than anything else.

In regards to his creepy demeanor, Makoto wore that dark expression on his face again and he was humming that solemn tune. The few students that he passed by made sure to step to the other side of the hallway. At one point he glanced up as he felt the burning gaze of curiosity. His bordering on black eyes caught her own cool brown orbs and the girl visibly flinched. With a blush on her cheeks the girl looked away and hurried along with her friends. Makoto thrust his hands in his pockets with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. For a brief moment he closed his eyes, contemplating on a verbal response to her curious stare. If he had spoken to her, he would have no doubt frightened her. He didn’t speak to others very often as he never saw a reason to talk to those who had already judged him.

Regardless, he kept on walking. It wasn’t until he finally looked up that he caught sight of them. His heart sped up slightly and he rushed into the nearest room he could find which was unfortunately the boys bathroom. Just my luck. It would seem he was a little slow in ducking for cover because not long after he had entered a stall he heard the door squeak open. Makoto could feel his presence on the other side of the door and he silently glared at where he assumed the boys face was. It wasn’t that he hated the other mediums, he just didn’t like some of their buddies. They were a rash and an obnoxious bunch. The phantoms that he had spoken to did not have many kind words to speak of when it came to a few of them but those were only for those who actually bothered the phantoms. Makoto himself had yet to actually meet any of them in person. Doing so would reveal that he too is a medium and he’d like to keep that part about him to himself for just a little longer.

The boy (Akira) the other side of the stall finally spoke, breaking Makoto’s chain of thought. His attention was now on the boy's voice and a knowing smile spread across his face. So the gardening club is having some problems? Interesting. They haven’t told me anything about it. They meaning the phantoms that he talks to regularly. With a shake of his head, Makoto cleared his throat. “Unfortunately I don’t know anyone who would want to bother them. I mean, they grow plants for god's sake. Who would be opposed to that? Now if you excuse me, I’d like to use the bathroom in peace.” With that being said, Makoto waited a bit before flushing the toilet. A not a second later and he heard the door squeak open and then closed. Waiting just a bit longer, Makoto finally left his stall relieved that the other medium was gone.

Even though he didn’t use the bathroom, Makoto still felt the urge to wash his hands. This habit of his was probably inherited from his parents who were always washing their hands. He took out a small bottle of lotion and spread it evenly across his hands. Another thing he got from his parents. Looks like I have to check this out myself. I doubt they would have asked me if it had anything to do with other people. Placing his hands back into his pockets, Makoto left the bathroom, careful of who was present and headed toward the roof top.

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The walk to the stairs was uneventful probably because he kept the masking tune going. Makoto was pretty good at maintaining the tune. It was his most practiced skill, so it shouldn’t be surprising that he knows how to use it better than most so when he caught sight of people lingering around the stairs he frowned. With a deep intake of breathe, Makoto began to hum those mournful tunes completely masking his presence as he gingerly stepped around them. He took note of their auras but ignored the people themselves on his way to the roof. When he finally reached said door, he opened it just enough for him to step through. While he may be hidden from view, that didn’t mean everything else was.

Almost as soon as he stepped foot on the rooftop, he choked, not expecting the air to be so hard to breathe in. His humming came to an abrupt stop but he did his best to keep his choking as silent as he could. Thankfully the others on the rooftop were preoccupied by the fish that swam about. The fish? Makoto’s eyes narrowed, trying to figure out why there were fish on the roof but a moment later, he realized they were just phantoms. Feeling a like an idiot, Makoto pinched the bridge of his nose. It was rather unfortunate that he didn’t have that breathing skill but he could manage without it. Black orbs roamed the rooftop, inspecting the sight before him. The fish did not take notice of his entrance which meant they were on a different plane. Hmm that is a bit troublesome. As he approached what he assumed was the greenhouse, breathing became much harder. The young man stood just outside it when he choked again, this time no doubt giving himself away. [i] Great. Just great.[/color

Not wanting to seem like an idiot, Makoto stood up straight and turned his attention to those who were present. “I hear you all have a fish problem.” That morbid smile was plastered on his face. An old habit that came out whenever he needed to feel assured.