Andromeda

The classroom experience for Mitsuru turned out to be very similar to that of what his sister had experienced. That was at least until he was on his own. He tried to follow Tsukiko when she ran off trying to dispose of the sword down a vent, but had tripped over something in the confusion. Mitsuru groaned in his pain on the floor for a moment before trying to find Tsukiko, she had disappeared out of the hall. “…sis…”

“…oh…” a meek voice managed to summon up from the floor.

Between the fluttering of papers, Mitsuru finally realized that he had knocked someone over. He turned his head away from the hall and looked down to see that he was laying on top of a girl, who was trying desperately, yet incredibly timidly, to let him know that she was down there. Once Mitsuru understood, he jumped up off her and landed seated on the floor with his knees fold up under him looking very polite and embarrassed. “I’m so sorry, Etsuko! It was all my fault! I wasn’t looking where I was going!”

Etsuko slowly pulled herself up from the tiled floor. As she rose, she made sure to keep her face turned mostly away from Mitsuru’s view focused on the papers thrown everywhere. She kept her voice silent afterward despite how frantic and worried she was over the mess that she had made.

When Mitsuru saw her scrambling around for the papers on the floor, he pulled out of his position to help her. “I created such a mess for you, Etsuko!” Through his insistence, they were able to clean up the scattered papers quickly into a thick pile. He saw Etsuko already neatly tapping the sides to get them in line for her to start to carry again. Mitsuru leaned over and picked up half of the stack.

She reached out her hand trying to take the papers back. “W-why are you taking my paper?” Her shaking hand could not even make it half the distance to Mitsuru before she stopped.

“I caused you trouble for running into you. So I should help you carry it back to make it up to you.”

“But don’t you have class? I’ll get you into trouble if you help me!”

Mitsuru looked away for a moment having remembered in that instant why he was not in his class. The thought made him depressed, but he saw Etsuko and changed his expression quickly. “It’s fine! The teacher sort of gave me permission to be outside!” He tried to hide his embarrassment behind awkward laughter.

“Oh?” She tilted her head a little towards him, but snapped back away from him when she realized that she was getting too close. However, when Mitsuru extended his hand out to help her off the floor she rotated herself almost completely around.

A little sweat appeared on the side of Mitsuru’s head from watching Etsuko. He did not completely understand why she acted so strangely in front of him. ‘Right! I forgot about that!’ Mitsuru closed his eyes and approached her again. “It’s okay now, Etsuko. I can’t see you.”

“Oh I’m sorry! I should probably explain about Etsuko!”

“…alright…” Etsuko still carried reluctance, but saw that Mitsuru was true to his words. She accepted his hand and stood up. “…I’m sorry…Mitsuru…it’s all my fault…”

He took up a spot at her side and a little behind, how she preferred. Even in spite of it all, he still smiled even if she never saw. “It’s fine. You can’t help it.”

She hung her head down looking at the tile floor, a typical habit for it (also the reason she had a lot of accidents). “…but…”

“See, there’s something special about Etsuko…”

“…if only…no one saw me…”

“…when any guy looks into Etsuko’s eyes they become bewitched by her.”

Mitsuru kept close to her making sure to keep an eye out for anyone or thing that she might bump into on the walk back. Fortunately, classes were in session so no one roamed the halls. Most experienced students knew of her and steered clear of her when she came in sight. Rumors circulated that her accidental gaze had ruined ninety-nine relationships, but it sounded like an exaggeration to Mitsuru. He had difficulty believing it, since the problem her eyes caused her turned her into an extreme introvert afraid of speaking to almost anyone. He heard that her eyes sometimes even worked on girls making her even more scare of people. It made him wonder how Tsukiko befriended her, but ever since she was the only one that Etsuko felt comfortable around.

Once they returned to the classroom, he handed over the papers to Etsuko. He did not want to intrude on another class, especially carrying a sword around. If his teachers could not stand it, he doubted others would either. “Have a good day, Etsuko.”

“…t-thank you…”

Chapter 3 – The Goddess, the Nerd and the Schemers

After the incident with Etsuko, Mitsuru only wanted to return to his class. He had not been able to attend any of them fully. The teachers eventually noticed. His current class remained in session and so he could only wait for the next bell to ring and let him inside.

Mitsuru found a wall nearby to sit against. His punishment to hold water filled buckets had run out in the confusion with Tsukiko and he did not really want to resume. He let out a sigh as he waited.

“So she your girlfriend?” a female voice asked from below.

Subconsciously, Mitsuru held the sword in his hands letting it rest partly touching the floor. When he heard the voice, he did not immediately put it together, but reacted embarrassed by the question turning slightly red in the face. “Of course not! She’s Tsuki’s best friend!”

“But that shouldn’t stop you.”

“Hey now!” Mitsuru turned down to face the voice, still caught in the words and not the situation. However, he quickly realized that it was the spirit of the sword speaking to him. Her ghostly face floated away from the hilt of the sword staring at him a little too close for his comfort. He dropped the sword and screamed in surprise. Unfortunately, the teacher to the class that he rested next glared down at him for interrupting. “I’m sorry for the disturbance!” he shouted as he ran away, ignoring the sword. Once he felt secure, he paused to take in air.

“You know I’m starting to feel a little depressed always being screamed at.”

Mitsuru yelped again and jump away from the sword. His proximity to the stairs made it even more difficult as he nearly tripped. Recovering at the last minute, he grasped onto the railing and stabilized.

The sword jumped up with her face popping out of the hilt again. “Like that! I’m not that scary am I?” Her face looked ready for tears. Her timing could not have been any worse for Mitsuru, as the shock of her appearing made him lose his hold. He actually fell down the stairs and collapsed in a pile at the landing. “Really now…” The sword laid on top of Mitsuru’s crumpled body staring at him.

He flailed his arms around trying to get the sword off him, while ignoring the pain in his head. “You are when you keep randomly appearing in front of me!”

“Well if you just calm down for a moment and listen to me!”

“Then back away from me a little! It’s unnerving seeing a ghost!”

“Oh I forgot didn’t I? My name is Mitsuru Sakakibara. I was a regular high school student until sis and I found these swords in a cave and released their spirits. Now because of that they follow us everywhere and can make us transform into them if they use their spiritual powers.”

After a calmer conversation with the woman, Mitsuru returned to his class at the sound of the bell. When he returned, he saw Tsukiko already seated. He noticed the sword next to her. Like him, she had not been able to get rid of it. However, the longer that he watched her, her expression changed to one of worry and fear. Mitsuru became concerned about what was wrong with her, but could not do anything as the teacher entered the room. He quickly sat down and prayed that he could stay out of trouble for one class.

Thankfully for them, the class was art, the assignment that they had rushed to completed needed to be turned it. The teacher was fairly relaxed and did not take note of the swords with them. Both of them did make the best effort they could to hide such an item, but at a length of nearly a meter, it was challenging. While not the most educational class, they were grateful to have made it through. Lunch came after and gave them a break.

Mitsuru prepared to open his lunch on his desk as he usually did and eventually joined by Kichiro and Hisoka, but Tsukiko grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the classroom. The remaining friends stared between them a little confused.

“I guess we’re eating on the roof today,” remarked Kichiro.

“This is Kichiro Yunokawa, one of my best friends. Even though we were in the same school system, I did not meet him until he was in my class as first year high school students. He doesn’t talk much about himself, but he’s usually pretty easy going.”

Kiyome nodded to him picking up her lunch. “That seems the most likely. Tsukiko’s seemed more stressed out today than usual.” She began walking out of the class followed by the two boys. Routine with them seemed so set as Etsuko came up behind them. The sign of them walking away with their lunch gave her all she needed to know and she closed in behind them using them as a shield through the hall.

Hisoka gave the two of them a shrug. “Isn’t she always high strung though?”

“Being the tallest girl in school can be quite the curse, huh?” commented Kichiro, tilting his head over at Kiyome.

“Careful not to say that around her though.”

“Kiyome Kasamatsu is one of sis’ friends. They only met recently as first years, but seemed to get along really well. Kiyome is part of the student council, but I don’t know what she does for them. She’s never told me. She’s very mysterious.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty touchy about that, but not nearly as someone else I can think of.”

Changing from impassive to annoyed in less than a second, Hisoka’s eyes narrowed and darkened looking over at Kichiro. “Trying to start something at lunch?”

“That’s Hisoka Numata, my other best friend. We’ve been friends since junior high school. He has a lot of problems with others, but I don’t think people give him a chance. He’s actually very friendly, as long as you don’t speak the taboo word.”

Kichiro smirked a little and waved his hands to deflect the glare. “Just making an observation.”

Idle conversation passed the time until they reached the roof. As expected, they found the siblings over in the corner of the roof in a deep argument. They made their approach to them and Kichiro had to make a quick tease to insert themselves into the group. “Exchanging tips for cosplaying?”

“What?!” exclaimed Tsukiko, who’s debate with Mitsuru did not seem deep enough for her to not hear Kichiro. Her face immediately when red with embarrassment and shattered any further hopes of continued conversation with Mitsuru.

With the opening made, they sat down around in a rough circle. Etsuko made sure to use Tsukiko as a shield from the others and ate half turned away from the group. The meal started out fairly normal for everyone. Tsukiko made light conversation with Kiyome and Etsuko while Mitsuru talked to Kichiro and Hisoka. As a group, those in their class considered them one of the odder sets of students in the school. Etsuko and Hisoka both existed on the fringe of the student body because of their uniqueness. The openness and acceptance of Mitsuru and Tsukiko were the main reasons they became friends so quickly. Kichiro and Kiyome were a different sort and their reasons for being friends became clear in time.

Part way into the lunch, Tsukiko noticed something that turned her blue. ‘What’s she think she’s doing?! She’s going to expose us, again!’ Across from her, Mitsuru sat calmly eating and laughing as though nothing was wrong. Next to him, the woman that haunted him was sitting at his side looking as though it was the most natural thing in the world. In fact, she sat surprisingly well mannered with perfect posture as though well trained from a wealthy family.

Tsukiko began to sweat heavily seeing her out acting as if nothing was wrong. She snapped around the circle trying to see if anyone had noticed, but no one said a word. Her lips shook and rippled as the fear built up in her. Tsukiko wanted to shout over at the ghost, but knew that it would draw attention to it. She stretched out her leg moving towards the woman trying to get her attention. The position with her leg made it awkward for her to keep her balance and the sweat on her face made it difficult to focus. However, Tsukiko jaw dropped and she lost it completely when she saw Mitsuru hand over part of his lunch to her. She could not take it anymore and slammed her hand down on the roof. Tsukiko stretched out into the center pointing at Mitsuru and the woman. “What do you think you’re doing?! Mitsu! She’s out right there! And you just...” She turned her arm to point over at the spirit. “And you’re just out! And everyone can… And how can you be eating if you’re ghost!” During the excitement from Tsukiko, Etsuko kept herself skillfully hidden in her shadow.

Mitsuru smiled back to his sister and offered more to the spirit. She graciously accepted his offer. Both acts made Tsukiko face become even darker. “…s-sis… it’s ok. I’m just letting her spend lunch with us. It’s fine.”

“What’s fine with this scene?!”

“We were able to work out our differences. I felt bad that she had to stay in the sword the entire time. So I thought it would be fine if she came out during lunch.”

“Thank you very much! Please take care of me!” she said while bowing slightly to everyone. The rest of the group politely bow slightly to her and continued eating as they had before.

Tsukiko let out a gasp looking around as their friends completely ignore something so unnatural. “You guys are just going to accept this?! I mean she’s a ghost! It’s weird, right?!”

Kichiro’s closed eyes raised an eyebrow to her. “I think you’re the only that seem to think it is weird.”

“Agreed,” added Kiyome, “There something wrong with someone wanting to join us for lunch? I didn’t think you were so narrow minded, Tsukiko.”

“Fine with me…” chimed Hisoka, in a tone that said he clearly did not care.

“B-but…” She turned around to look at Etsuko, who still tried to keep herself removed. “You’re scared right, Etsuko?” Etsuko was her last hope, she was terrified of everyone that she did not know. She would have Tsukiko’s back on the matter.

Etsuko timid voice barely escaped her lips, but Tsukiko heard still. “…s-she looks lonely…”

‘Even Etsuko?!’ Tsukiko crumpled back dropping her hand to her lap in defeat. Everyone was insane.

However, she did not get a rest as her spirit erupted from his sword and sat down next to the woman. “Well if you all don’t have any problems! Thank you kindly!” He warmly greeted them all before sampling the food that Mitsuru gave her.

A vein popped on Tsukiko forehead at the sight of him. “You insensitive jerk! What makes you think you’re welcome here!”

He gave her a dejected look for such harsh criticisms. “That’s so mean! You’re trying to keep me away from my beloved!”

Tsukiko leaned to him raising a finger to him in anger. “Now listen here. After all you said to me what makes you think you can… Wait, what do you mean beloved?!”

“Her, what did you think?” he stated matter-of-factly. He pointed his finger over at the woman spirit. “She’s my wife.”

“Wife?!” exclaimed Mitsuru and Tsukiko.

“What we didn’t tell you?”

“No!”

“It’s true!”

“Urgh…” Tsukiko collapsed back to her seat. Dealing with them was exhausting. She stopped caring about it and decided to focus on her food.

Mitsuru held his chopsticks in his mouth a little concerned about how Tsukiko took the whole event. ‘I didn’t mean to make it worse, sis… I just wanted to give you less to worry about…’ He thought back to the conversation that he had with his spirit. When he said that they had come to an agreement, there was truth to the words. Though a little different than the front that he gave Tsukiko. The whole thing still unnerved him, but he bore with it for her sake.

“That good enough?” she asked Mitsuru floating away to about a meter in distance from him. He nodded to her slowly still showing signs of fright in his face. “Now that you’re calmer. Can we have a straight talk?”

“Talk?” He had a lot of a questions for the spirit, but had not really imagined her being so rational. Mitsuru barely knew her, but they had only ever acted carelessly and childishly continuously joking. The sight of her being serious made him a little nervous as though he was about to receive terrible news, as if he would be dead in a week because they were bonded together.

“Yes, with everything happening we haven’t actually spoken seriously. My name is Hisako Shigenoi.”

“Miss Shigenoi…I’m Mitsuru Sakakibara.” The seriousness of the dialogue made him change his attitude with her. He forgot that she was a ghost and saw a woman sitting across from him. He bowed quickly as his loss trapped him. “I’m sorry for screaming!”

She could not help but sweat a little seeing him act so different than before. “I did tease you. So I guess it’s expected. I imagine you have a lot of questions for me.”

He had not really thought too hard on the matter. Any questions that he might have had disappeared quickly whenever they appeared. When he tried to sleep after the incident only unease filled him. He never had a chance to question his situation. Mitsuru crossed his arms and thought carefully on the subject trying to figure out what was important to him. “I guess the easiest one is why did this happen?”

“Unfortunately, that is one question I don’t know the answer to. I don’t know why I’ve become linked to you. I’ve been asleep since I’ve been attached to this sword.”

“Then can you at least tell me who you were before being attached to the sword?”

“I was the guardian of the Kimon. It was my task to protect the human world from the demons that tried to enter.”

“Guardian…” Mitsuru held his next question as he thought further. He was not sure of what he expected in asking. The answer seemed almost normal and very similar to the story that his grandfather to him. As he thought about the spirit and their situation, Tsukiko came into his head. He knew how much it bothered her. It did not feel pleasant for him, but he could only imagine how hard it was for her. Mitsuru looked over at the spirit. “Can you do something for me?”

“What is it?” She became a little curious seeing the change in mood from his expression.

“Well, can you pretend to get along with me?”

“What do you mean? You make it sound like I don’t?”

Mitsuru turned his head away from her looking a little flustered. His fingers pushed back and forth against each other fidgeting. “I mean the jokes and surprises. At least around Tsuki, could you make it look like we’re doing well?”

“You mean your sister? Why? What’s wrong?”

“Well, I don’t want to cause her to worry anymore than she already does. If she can see that we’re getting along it’ll be less that she has to be worried about.”

She stared long at Mitsuru measuring his words and sensing his feelings. The earnest wishes of his made her smile a little. “Very well. I can see you care about her a lot.”

“Thank you!”

Mitsuru kept up his smile for Tsukiko, even though it felt like it might be useless for him. He hoped that in time things would set down and return to how they used to be for them. He would do everything he could to push things back to being normal.


-X- -X- -X-

Afternoon classes ran a little smoother as well. They had developed more skillful methods of concealing the weapons. The class did not make any comments about them having it from the morning. So they were able to pretend nothing happened. Tsukiko was thankful that the teachers did not exchange warnings. She did not have any confidence in them talking their way out of the weapons, especially given how the morning went.

The ending bell to school came as a relief to Tsukiko. Any other day she might not have minded staying around and chatting or hanging out in town. But the stress in her body had put its toll on her. She never realized how tiring being tense could actually be. As much as she wanted to leave immediately, her body actually felt comfortable in the chair. ‘I guess I can spare a few minutes. Mitsu hasn’t returned yet…’ In her exhaustion, she did not realize the class had ended until a few minutes after and in that time, Mitsuru disappeared. She figured he was just talking to Kichiro, nothing to be worried over. Her eyes closed and the darkness welcomed her.

“Hey sis!”

“…uh-huh…”

“Sis! Tsuki! I need your help!”

“…I said stop with…the ‘sis’…” The words crawled out of Tsukiko’s mouth. Her head hung on the back of the chair and her body stretched out not fitting under the desk, the legs hovered several centimeters off the ground.

“Sorry, but I need your help!”

“…what is it…” Tsukiko started to open her eyes a little when Mitsuru shook her shoulder. When she realized that she had fallen asleep, she snapped awake. She looked around the classroom, empty for all but Mitsuru. Blinking and trying to get her bearings in the room, she finally looked over at Mitsuru. He looked upset and then she remembered the tone in his voice. She jumped up to her feet, towering over him, and looked down. “What’s wrong? Something happen?”

Mitsuru looked ready to cry with how concerned he looked. He then presented a stack of papers in his hands to her. “We need to hand out papers!”

Tsukiko fell over to her desk, barely holding on to the top to keep her from collapsing to the floor. She recovered quickly though and leapt back to her feet with a vein popping on her forehead. Her fist rose only slightly restrained. “Why doesn’t your attitude match your request?! You had me scared for a second!”

He hung his head a little staring at the papers as he brought them back down. “I’m sorry, but we need to help Etsuko…”

“Huh? What’s she got to do with this?”

“She was asked to hand out papers to people for the upcoming tennis meet.”

Tsukiko took a moment to process the sudden change in direction. None of it made sense, but one thing did click with her. “Who would make Etsuko hand out papers? She’s terrified of people!”

“That’s why I need your help!” He presented the stack again to her.

“Why didn’t you start with that in the beginning?!” An image of Etsuko hiding behind the school gate with a hand poking through the bars holding papers with a low unsettling voice pleading to passing students entered Tsukiko’s mind. She shook her head free of the thought and focused back on the papers. Tsukiko took them from Mitsuru without a second thought. “Right! We can’t let her experience any more trauma. Let’s go, Mitsu!” She charged out of the room with fire in her eyes.

“Coming!” Mitsuru raced after her trying to keep up with her determined spirit.

Out of the shadows of an extruded column of the wall, Kichiro surfaced. He watched the two eagerly disappear from the halls and make their way out to the school grounds. The voice of Tsukiko reached him clearly in spite of the distance. “Your handiwork again, eh?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” replied Kiyome, as she walked away in the opposite direction. “I just see two students enthusiastically helping to promote the tennis team.”

He gave a smile and a little chuckle thinking about the scene. “Have you heard the rumor?”

“Rumor?”

“The school’s considering cutting the tennis team due to lowered interest and poor performance.”

“Is that so?”

“I heard that the sports committee will be attending some of their practices and meets to make a final judgment.”

“You’re very well informed, as always, eh? Kichiro?” Kiyome disappeared into the shadows of the hall leaving him alone.

He grinned a little knowing that she already left. “Scary woman,” he commented to himself with a shrug. Kichiro approached the window watching the two desperately trying to pass out the papers to every student they found. He stifled a laugh seeing the two. “Well it is pretty good entertainment. But you could have just asked them directly.” Tsukiko chased down a couple of boys forcibly putting papers in their hands before they fled the grounds. “But they wouldn’t be trying so hard if it wasn’t her.”

-X- -X- -X-

Exhausted and panting heavily, Mitsuru and Tsukiko leaned against the gate of the school. They finished with all of the papers. With all of them handed out, they felt relieved in knowing that Etsuko was safe and spared from the dilemma. However, it did not seem that they could rest. A female student, a first year as well, came running out of the school screaming.

“Someone help! There’s a crazy boy in the photography club room!”

It alerted the two of them quickly. Even though they did not have the energy to stand, they called out to her from their seated spots. “What’s going on?”

The girl became relieved to have found someone answering her pleas. She quickly rushed over to them and paused panting out of a breath. Once she recovered, she leaned her head up from her bent over position. “He’s destroying the classroom!”

“Who is?”

“I don’t know, but he’s some nerdy looking guy. I can’t understand what’s he’s yelling about.”

Tsukiko jumped up suddenly having the energy to stand again. She looked down at Mitsuru pulling at him to stand. “Come on! That’s Hisoka! Someone must have said the taboo word!”

Mitsuru waved his hand to tell her to go on without him. “He’ll calm down eventually. You know nothing’ll calm him down until he gets it out of his system.”

“Mitsu!” She thought back to how upset that Mitsuru was over Etsuko. Comparing the two situations made her confused. “Why is your attitude not matching with the situation?! This is serious!”

“But you know how scary he looks when it’s like that!” His face had nearly turned completely blue already thinking about Hisoka. As his best friend, he had seen how he gets far too many times.

However, she did not take no for an answer and dragged him to his feet. “We’ll take care of it!” she shouted back to the girl as she left for the school. Once inside, the sound of an earthquake and typhoon going off from the second floor made even Tsukiko turned a little blue. She had seen him act violent in the past, but it still surprised her each time. ‘He’s normally so docile and nearly impossible to anger.’ Another quake in the ceiling, that knocked dust free, sped up her feet to catch him. ‘Who made the mistake? I thought everyone already knew about the taboo word!’

On the second floor, when they came within a classroom of the Photography Club an explosion of glass and chairs burst out in front of them. Tsukiko stared in stunned shock at the destructive power of Hisoka. She felt her legs shaking and rattling, while also very warm suddenly. She did not think that she was so scared of him. However, a glance down found that it was actually Mitsuru making her shake. Her hand grabbed him by the coat of his uniform and pulled him up to stand on his feet. “He’s your best friend. You have to calm him down!”

“But he’s scary!” he declared before hiding behind Tsukiko.

Tsukiko felt a little bad for him knowing how Hisoka was in such a state. But they needed to stop him before anything more got damaged. A desk flew out of the hole in the wall and broke apart on the wall with a relieved whimper. She felt a little bad for the furniture. “W-Well maybe we’ll just look to see if we can do something.”

He reluctantly agreed to her idea. In cooperation with her height, she leaned her head in above Mitsuru’s letting on their faces peek into the classroom. Hisoka had trashed the entire room, as they expected with the room mostly abandoned. However, a boy and a girl huddled in the corner trying to avoid being targets to Hisoka’s blind rage.

“—shortsighted! What’s your problem with wearing glasses!? You’re wearing glasses over there! Does that make you one too! Who ya calling so nerdy that he can’t even do a pushup because he’s too weak to end lift his own body! Who’s so blind can’t even see a centimeter in front of him without windows for glass, they’re so thick! Who’s—“

Tsukiko and Mitsuru sweated a little listening to the rant that Hisoka carried out. Neither of the two students even said a word, but that did not seem to stop him. “We have to do something, Mitsu.”

“Yeah, but what? Tsuki, I don’t think he can even hear anything right now!”

She lifted her hand up to her chin to think as they convened back in the hall. The unnatural strength he got during his rage made any normal solution impossible. Tsukiko glanced over at Mitsuru suddenly thinking of something. “I think it might work…”

“Huh?” The door slid up startling Mitsuru away from the room. However, Tsukiko’s hand reached out and grabbed his collar dragging him into the classroom. He tried to turn his head around to look at her to get an answer, but found it impossible from his position. “What are you planning, Tsuki?” Her silence that refused to answer made him panic. “Sis!?!”

Tsukiko gritted her teeth as she came close to Hisoka. His current blind rage cast a chair to the other side destroying club equipment. The wake of the chair whipped her hair around. A little sweat dripped down her face from the near miss. Her face narrowed and turned sternly serious. “This is my only card I can play! I choose you, Mitsu!” She threw him down in front of her a meter away from Hisoka.

“I’m not a pocket monster!” Mitsuru shouted, flailing his hands.

She stared into the depth of a soulless demon with no humanity and red furious eyes. A frightening sight for her, but she kept her ground in his quaking approach. The sight of fresh targets brought his full attention on them. Smoke seemed to billow from his mouth in anger with his tanned skin. The room became dark isolating the three from reality. “Please Hisoka! Return to normal!”

Mitsuru saw him raising a desk up to throw with no concern for his target. He crossed his arms over his face not able to watch. “Please stop! It’s me, Mitsuru! Your best friend!”

“Stop Hisoka! You wouldn’t hit, Mitsu would you?”

“Huh?! Mitsuru?” Hisoka came to a sudden and rough stop. The desk fell out of his hand as he blinked in confusion. “What are you doing here, Mitsuru?” He looked down seeing that he was sort of floating in the air. “Why are you flying?”

“That’s me!” Tsukiko barked, annoyed with his recent bout of amnesia and airheadedness.

“Hey, what’s going on? Why are you holding, Mitsuru?”

“…Hisoka…”

Mitsuru looked back at her wanting to be let down. “You know he can’t remember when it gets like this. And can you set me down…”

“Oh!” She placed him back on the floor and took up on the left side of Mitsuru. “Yeah, I know.” Crumbling of the wall from the classroom distracted them all away and back to the real problem. While they already knew everything that happened and faced the Demon Hisoka, the thought of the consequences of a destroyed classroom made them panic. “We need to get out of here!”

Across the school, Kiyome walked back to the student council room. She noted the quiet atmosphere that returned to the school. However, before she entered the student council a student called out to her. “What’s wrong?”

“The Photography Club is wrecked, Kasamatsu! They’re saying that it was the nerd Hisoka Numata!”

“So that’s what the noise was about. Thanks for reporting it to me. I’ll be pulling it out of the Numata fund. Let them know the student council will pay to have it fixed.”

“Yes, ma’am!” The student departed her company and rushed off, no doubt back to the Photography Club.

Kiyome nodded to herself. Her hand pressed on the door of the room. “The room was old and they were complaining about needing a new room. Guess this is good fortune.” She smirked a little and stepped into the room.

-X- -X- -X-

The bus ride back to the shrine felt relaxing and draining for the two. They did not even notice most of the bumps. The siblings leaned against each other half asleep the entire trip back. When they stepped off the bus and finished the long walk back to the shrine they came to a stop. “I was looking forward to coming back…” Tsukiko began, staring at their home.

“…but then I remembered that we have guests…” finished Mitsuru.

“Dear mother and father in heaven…please pray for your son to survive the week!”

To be continued…

Omake Theater

“Hey! What was that all about?” yelled Hisoka picking up the creator from their desk.

“Yeah! You promised us that we would be in the next chapter,” added Kichiro.

The creator held up the pages from chapter two. “But you guys are right here! See?”

Kiyome grabbed the pages. “You gave us a minor role in the chapter!”

“You said that you were going to be different, but we’re still getting the same amount of screen time as friends in other harem series!” snapped Etsuko.

“I couldn’t help it! I was planning on using you more, but I sort of got side tracked with Tsukiko’s character and well. It was good character development for her!”

“But you didn’t even properly introduce us!” shouted Hisoka.

Etsuko grabbed onto the creator and leaned in. “The way you presented us the readers must think we’re terrible friends that just tease or ignore them!”

“I think they’ll think worse of you how you’re acting right now,” the creator whispered to the side.

“What?!”

“Hey now! I realized my mistake, honest!” The creator shuffles through papers and pulls out a paperclip bound stack of pages. “See here look! This is the new chapter three! I really get to explore your characters a little more. You all get proper introductions too and are true to your personalities!”

The four grab it out of the creator’s hand and stare at it flipping through the pages quickly. They look between themselves after finishing and nod before leaning back at the creator. “This is still not enough! We need more screen time!”

“You’re not the main characters! It’s still Mitsuru and Tsukiko’s story not yours!”

“You made a promise with us! We’re only here because you said this would be a different harem than the others that forget us!”

“If this is just going to be the same as the rest we’re leaving!”

The creator searches frantically for paper pulling out a pencil and half-crumbled sheet. “I-I give you your own chapter! With you as the point of the view to expand your characters! How’s that?! Please stay! I need you for the story!”

“We’ll get our own chapter?”

“Mitsuru and Tsukiko won’t be in it at all?”

“Definitely! I promise!”

“I guess we can stay for a little longer…”

“Thank you!”

“This is a promise though! You break it and we’ll break you!”

“Yes! Yes! I promise!” The creator turns away from them and looks down. ‘But I’m the one that created them. Why are they threatening me?’