Chapter Text
“Ughhh… this isn’t working!” Yashiro was getting dispirited. Even with the help of a school mystery and after all the attempts they made, the relationship between her and Teru that was supposed to blossom at the power of their immense love for each other was non-existent!
“Haha!” Hanako only chuckled in response to Yashiro’s distress.
“Don’t ‘haha’ me!” She scolded.
“Hmm, well there has to be a better way. Let me think.”
“Alright then…” Yashiro was turning doubtful.
Hanako floated above her upside down and filled her vision, his face inches away from hers. He lightly poked her forehead and suggested, “Why don’t you just confess to him?”
Yashiro remained speechless for a moment before she vigorously protested against the idea.
“Well, I’m new at this too. And this is really the best way I can think of.”
“New?!” Yashiro couldn’t believe it. All this time she’s been obediently following the orders of some clueless ghost. No wonder they were getting nowhere!
Yashiro loomed over Hanako demanding retribution. Hanako hurriedly reassured her that he had another item that could help. He scavenged his pockets and brought out piece of wood carved and painted into a girl wearing a kimono with a plain, blank look on her face. Yashiro stared at it for a while before she finally asked,
“What is this?”
“Kokeshi doll.”
“And?”
“It’s kinda sexy.”
Yashiro swung her arm back and threw the doll with as much force as she could muster, sending it flying.
While Hanako was distracted with the doll, Yashiro caught a glimpse of a small red pouch. Curious, she picked it up and opened it. Inside the pouch were two coin shaped items that glittered and sparkled under the bathroom lights. “What is this, Hanako?” She asked.
“Oh, those are mermaid scales. They’re match-making–”
“Match-making!?” Yashiro’s eyes instantly brightened at the spark of hope in the palm of her hand.
Once Hanako had realized what Yashiro was thinking he immediately dashed over to her, warning her not to do it. But Yashiro, getting desperate, put the scale she was holding into her mouth and swallowed.
“Yashiro, spit it out!” Hanako checked around her in a panicked and worried manner, “It’s going to put a curse on you if you don’t–”
“I don’t care!” Yashiro snapped, “I don’t care what happens to me! As long as I get to be with somebody in the end!”
She hurried out of the bathroom to find Teru. If this was a match-making tool then the other pair should be given to the significant other. Yashiro searched throughout the school in a hurried pace but she couldn’t find him.
She opened the pouch to take out the other pair when she noticed there was a blinding light on her arm. They were mermaid scales, sparkling brightly under the school lights. Her skin had started to turn hard and shiny all over her body. Yashiro panicked and faltered as the sparkling lights swallowed her whole.
How did this happen? All she’s ever wanted, in all her life, was a prince for her princess. Wherever they would go, whatever they might do, their love for each other would be enough to carry them through. That ‘happily ever after.’ She wanted that more than anything in the world…
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When Yashiro woke up, she was up close to the face of a boy with a hat over his choppy black hair and a pair of wide amber eyes.
“Hanako..?”
“The fish talks!”
“Huh?” Only then did Yashiro realize that she had turned into a fish. Was this the effect of the mermaid scale Hanako was warning her about?
“Bottoms up!” Holding Yashiro by her fish tail, he dangled her over his face that had a black Yorishiro seal written in red on the right cheek. He gladly opened his mouth wide to reveal a pair of sharp fangs. Although this boy looked exactly like Hanako, it wasn’t him. He wasn’t anything like him.
“N-no, wait! I was a human before I turned into a fish. Please help me!” Yashiro pleaded.
The boy paused in his movement. “Hmm. What are you willing to do to be human again?” The boy wore a sinister smile that sent shivers down Yashiro’s back. It was clear he wasn’t to be trusted, but…
“I-I’ll do anything! So please help me!” She couldn’t just stay like this forever. And even though this boy wasn’t Hanako, he must be his brother. If he was Hanako’s brother then it was probably safe to trust him. Right?
He set down Yashiro on a desk and took up the red pouch on the floor. After taking out and examining the other scale, he propped it in his mouth and swallowed.
Poof! Yashiro had become a human again with her fat radish legs and fragile stubby arms. She checked all over her body for any leftover scales. She sighed in relief when she saw not a single scale on her body.
“A contract has been made.” The boy leaned over, trapping her. He grabbed her face with both hands to align her eyes straight at his. “In return for granting your wish, I’ll have you to become my slave!” He said with great enthusiasm.
“Eh?”
“From now on, you’ll do anything I ask of you whenever I want. No matter what happens to you, you‘ll first and foremost, always and forever serve me. Every time you fall down, I’ll make you get back up. You’ll be my loyal subject that not even death would separate from its master.”
Yashiro searched for her voice but it remained speechless with only incomplete sounds stammering from her mouth. She had so much energy pent up inside her, dying to get out, yet she couldn’t move an inch— Crash!
A horrendous combination of fish and monster suddenly jumped out from the ground. It swam in the air as if it were water and loomed over them.
“Be grateful, foolish human. For you are now my servant–” Before it could even complete the sentence, the boy had cut open the fish’s gut with a patch of black smoke that had a red light formed in a circle at the center of it. The blood from the fish spilled out like a waterfall as it fell to the ground, choking on the blood it spilled from its mouth.
“Now now, Mermaid. You can’t just try to steal away someone’s slave like that.” He walked towards the bleeding fish and bent over the mermaid to meet its eye, still wearing that wide-eyed grin, “That’s no good.”
Tsukasa launched his arm back before punching his hand in the hole he made on the fish. Yashiro just sat back and watched, shaking as he tore it apart bit by bit with the mermaid writhing in agony.
“P-please! Stop it!” Yashiro pleaded while trying to pull Tsukasa away from the poor creature. She couldn’t bear to watch this anymore.
“Oh?” Tsukasa swatted back his arm and elbowed Yashiro in the gut.
Tsukasa let her fall to the ground, leaving her shaking and frightened. As her vision darkened, she heard an unsettling squelch as the blood spill came to her view, painting the floor in red.
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Yashiro woke up in shallow water. She was panicked to see some scales on parts of her arms again. Was she about to turn into a fish again? Would she still be able to turn back to a human if she did?
When Yashiro got up, she glanced around the room. It had speakers on the ceilings and a mic set on the table. The floor was filled with shallow, clear water. And when she looked up, she jolted to the sight of multiple eyes on the walls and ceiling. She stumbled away from all of them in a panic.
Yashiro’s loud heart beat rang through her ears as she could feel her heart practically about to jump out of her body. She had no idea where she was or what was going to happen to her. She was completely powerless. All she could do was cower and shake in fear, praying for someone to come save her.
Splat! Yashiro whipped her head back, towards the sound. It was the boy from earlier. He had squished something under his palm and was now spreading the blood across the wall. Happily humming as he added on to the other streaks of red already there.
He turned his head towards Yashiro and smiled at her. “Good morning, sleepy head!” He greeted.
An image of him sticking his hand in the fish’s open gut flashed through Yashiro’s mind. The thought created a lump in her throat as she felt the cold sweat pour down from her head.
“W-what am I doing here?” She stammered, her voice weak and shaky.
“This is the broadcasting room of the school. It’s a secluded place no one ever goes to so we’ll be doing our business here. It will be our secret base!” He chuckled, “I’m Tsukasa by the way! Amane’s younger brother!” So he was Hanako’s brother.
“I’m Yashiro Nene…” She replied in a meek voice.
“Nene!” Tsukasa shouted.
“Y-yes!” Yashiro jolted at every sudden action he made.
Tsukasa stood up from his spot and took out his hand. He summoned the patch of black smoke that had defeated the mermaid from earlier. “Let’s get started shall we?”
He let the patch of smoke drift towards Yashiro and circle around her. While Yashiro was busy anxiously watching the black smoke go round and round, Tsukasa closed in on her. He grabbed Yashiro with one hand by the shoulder and used the other to press on her forehead with the tip of his finger.
“You’ll be surveilling the school with Kokujoudai. Since you’re weak on your own, you’ll have to follow it wherever it goes, got it?”
“Okay…” Yashiro was uncertain about the situation, her thoughts chaotically whirling about in her head. But she felt it best to keep quiet.
Tsukasa, still wearing a wide eyed grin, kept his eye contact on her. He pressed hard on her forehead as he threatened in a low voice, “You better not run off anywhere.”
Yashiro immediately nodded her head to reassure her obedience.
“That’s a good girl!” Tsukasa instantly brightened up and firmly patted her head in response. He stepped back and waved enthusiastically, “Bye bye~!”
Black smoke appeared from around Yashiro and started to envelop her. She closed her eyes in fright, only opening them when light seeped through her eyelids.
“I’m back in school.”
The black smoke transformed into a black paper bird and flew inside her collar. Right, she’s supposed to look around the campus. She didn’t dare think of what would happen if she disobeyed Tsukasa. As she was walking around the school, searching for anything special, she let her thoughts wonder.
Wonder if she could just blink and be lying on her bed, her eyes squinting at the orange light spilling through the curtains. She would spend what seemed like hours only to smooth out the ruffles of her dress and carefully adjust her collar and stockings for the slimmest chance of a boy to glance at her direction. And those childish horror stories that sweet Aoi would collect just for her would be the scariest thing Yashiro would ever come to fear. She’d be living her simple day-to-day life feeling light as air, ready for anything that awaited her.
Whoosh—something drifted past her, interrupting her thoughts. Tsukasa’s Kokujoudai had transformed back to its original state and was now entering through a cracked open door. Yashiro sighed. She dragged her body and gently laid her hand against the door, leaving behind a soft creak as she slowly followed the line of smoke into the classroom.
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The classroom had various items scattered across it in a disorganized manner. Kokujoudai floated towards a tall mirror that leaned against the wall that helped it stand. It hovered in front of the mirror for a few minutes before finally advancing into it. The glass let Kokujoudai through it as if it were nothing but air until it had fully absorbed it and Kokujoudai was nowhere to be seen.
Yashiro’s stomach curled up inside her. Was she supposed to do that too? She looked around the mirror anxiously. She grabbed the sides of it tight and carefully set her foot into the magical mirror. She felt her foot on the other side of the mirror dip in water before setting on solid ground. Limb by limb, Yashiro carefully went in and let the mirror absorb her.
She was standing in a dark corridor on a floor filled with ankle deep water. She glanced around for Kokujoudai but it was nowhere in sight.
“I shouldn’t have taken so long.” She condemned.
Yashiro hurried toward the soft light waiting for her at the end of the dark corridor. When she got through, she let the light from the glass roof above shine through her eyes and overwhelm her by the view of the whole interior.
The building was big and vast, holding multiple floors– each with a special design. They were all lined onto the side of the wall, making them loop around each other with no real way to the next floor. But the one thing that stood out, the thing that all the floors had in common, were the mirrors. Countless mirrors of different kinds: big and small, bright and dull, round and sharp, painted on every inch of every wall.
Yashiro began her search on the floor she was on first, wandering around and glancing at the special designs of all the mirrors, torches, railings, floors, pillars, everything. But there was no sign of Kokujoudai. Yashiro felt her stomach twist and curl the longer she wandered. The thought of exploring the whole interior all by her lonesome with no knowledge of this place whatsoever and Tsukasa thinking she had run off only made her more anxious as she started to pick up the pace.
With each and every step she took looking for Kokujoudai fueled by anxiety and panic, Yashiro strained her legs until she arrived at the end of the floor. In front of a giant mirror that filled up the width of the hall with two slimmer mirrors on each side that covered a gate behind it. Curious as to what it was, Yashiro went up the two steps that led to the large reflection. Yashiro only saw her reflection staring back at her, imitating her slightest movements. She was about to dismiss it as an ordinary mirror when she noticed her reflection morphing into something else.
”Aoi?” She looked exactly like her: fair skin, round eyes, hair neatly tied up in two rings. Flawless.
“Nene!” Aoi wore a friendly smile as she cheerfully greeted Yashiro, pressing the tips of her fingers against the glass. She then opened her eyes to reveal a pair of dark-colored, dilated irises that filled in her round eyes, turning her whole frame to seem unsettling, “You’re really useless.”
“Eh?”
“It’s pathetic really how you always manage to mess up everything you do.” ‘Aoi’ continued, never breaking her smile, “You’re nothing but a nuisance. The world would be a much better place if you just died.”
“No!” Yashiro covered her ears and turned away to hide from the taunts. The other mirrors hung on the walls started to change their reflections too to other people Yashiro held dear. All jeered and ridiculed her, cursing her to die until all voices uniformed to a low growl.
“Let me replace you!” It roared.
Yashiro whipped her head back to see that emerging out of the bursting flames in the glass was a giant head of a crow with a single red eye that cut through its dark-colored feathers. Its claws slid out the two side mirrors and lunged towards Yashiro. She immediately turned heel and darted, straying from its grasp. When she glanced back, there were wooden puppets climbing from out of the smaller mirrors hung on the walls chasing after her. She ran as fast as her legs could take her but it wasn’t long before the puppets tackled her to the ground.
Yashiro struggled and fought with all her might but it was only in vain. The puppets held her down, offering her to the monster’s clutches. It picked Yashiro up with its hand wrapping around her body, leaving her legs dangling in the air. The crow tightened his grip on Yashiro, crushing the life out of her. The bone-crushing clasp made her whole body ache with excruciating pain. She choked with her limbs shaking all over and her eyes started to water, blurring her vision. She tried to resist the urge to rest her eyes and let the lights darken, but her strength was fading. She needed to get help, somehow…
She gasped and wheezed for air, barely able to let out a distressed cry. She used all the strength she could find for her raspy voice to squeeze out the words, “Tsukasa…save me…”
Thump! Yashiro dropped to the floor. She coughed and inhaled and exhaled, taking in as much air as her lungs could hold. She was left speechless as she knelt on the cold hard ground, sweat dripping off from her red, hot skin. When she looked up to see what had happened, she saw the hand with a clean cut hole through the middle, big enough to fill its palm and rendering it useless. The strands of blood dripped down from above, splattering all over Yashiro. She stood up and rubbed her hands through her face and clothes in a panicked manner, whimpering as she attempted to keep the blood off.
At the corner of her eye, she noticed a black smudge drift past her. Kokujoudai had returned back onto Tsukasa’s hand where he confidently stood not far off. Yashiro hesitated but then quietly stumbled towards him and stayed only a few steps close, fidgeting nervously as she hung her head low.
Tsukasa planted his feet in front of the creature casting him in its shadow as it towered above him, with the same eerie grin he always had on his face. The monster, too, braced for a fight but before it could even attack, Tsukasa had already gotten through it and put his hand through the extensive mirror. The glass cracked and shattered as Tsukasa pulled out a head of a crow attached to a body of a human.
This morphed animal from the mirror had the simplistic features of a normal crow yet the body shape of a human, even wearing sophisticated-looking clothes. The crow was bewildered by the situation, asking numerous questions but it was only mere seconds before Tsukasa had stuck his hand in its chest, making the creature grow silent. Yashiro whimpered as she helplessly shielded her eyes from the sight of Tsukasa mercilessly pulling out its heart in a careless motion.
The heart squelched out bits of blood and ashes from the dancing flames it carried with every throb it took. Tsukasa turned towards Yashiro. She held back a sob as she faltered, slowly backing away until she hit the railing. Tsukasa immediately caught her and locked her with his legs wrapped around her waist and arm around her neck.
“Open wide~” He forced her jaw open with his one hand and used the other to move the heart closer to her. Yashiro tried to remove his grasp on her but he wouldn’t budge. “This way, you won’t just be all weak, worthless anymore.”
“A-ah—“ Tears streaked down Yashiro’s cheek as the raging flames came closer and closer. She flailed her legs in random directions and tugged and shoved with all her might but it was all in vain. So she despairingly gave in and ceased her efforts. She had shut her eyes tight, clenched her fists grasping onto Tsukasa’s sleeves and braced herself for the inevitable, when—
“Yashiro!” Her eyes widened at the sound of the familiar voice. The flames had halted their advance towards her as Tsukasa’s hand had relaxed and unconsciously released her jaw. Yashiro choked back tears as she called back his name with a sigh of relief,
“Hanako…”