Puppet Skin [OHSHC]

Chapter 1

Just ten more minutes of writing had turned out to be two hours, but since she was on a role, Iiyo didn't think that a couple more hours of writing would hurt, and that four hours would be plenty of time for sleep. Nope. Six whacks on the snooze alarm was definitely not enough, and when she finally realized that she was late, she got the sense to panic and launch herself out of bed, probably waking her downstairs neighbors in the process with all of her stomping around.

Iiyo jumped into her black jeans, and tried to button her black blouse at the same time as brushing her teeth, which wasn't successful at all, and was forced to do one task at a time. The first day of a new school year was always stressful for the young teen, especially when she had just moved to an almost foreign area. She didn't have enough time to fix breakfast, so she just slipped on her sneakers and an oversized dark grey sweatshirt, and shrugged on her messenger bag, hoping she would make it to the transit station on time. It was going to be Iiyo's first year at the high-esteemed Ouran High School as a first-year student. Because of the high fees for just attending there, she had successfully earned a Creative Writing scholarship, just so long as she enter in their held contests and earn a placement along with receiving top marks in her Creative Writing class, the scholarship was her golden ticket. It was a weird scholarship, but Iiyo didn't care. She was just thankful to be away from him.

She was planning on arriving on the school grounds two hours early so she would have plenty of time to figure out where her classes were before the crowd came with extra time to crack open one of her journals for more writing and outlining, but had woken up late. Like she thought, it was crowded with the welcoming committee and the ceremony. She secluded herself to the edge of the mass of people until she was close enough to a building, it didn't matter which, and rushed in. Relief tided over her to see that no one, was around, but it didn't take long for her to find out that she wasn't in the right building to where her classes would be, with only ten minutes to spare until the bell rang. She groaned at her ill luck, and the thought of actually asking one of those prissy snobs to show her the way.

"Hello there," someone with a deep creepy voice greeted Iiyo from behind, sending shivers crawling down her spine. She turned around, startled that someone was able to sneak up on her, and saw an even creepier appearance. He was a full head taller than Iiyo with a black hooded cloak, and black hair that obscured his face. In addition to his creepiness, he had a yellow hand-puppet, which had an evil glint in its eyes, on his right hand. "Would you like to join the Black Magic Club?" His smile seemed to get wicked, and he loomed even closer to her. "You get a free wooden Beelzenef doll—!"

He had gotten way too close, so Iiyo pushed him with her sleeve covered hands. "I'm sorry," she hesitated in speaking, "but please keep your distance." She kept her hands up for a few seconds to make sure he got the message clearly, and to be as respectful as she could so he wouldn't harm her. There was a bout of an awkward silence before she said in a softer tone, "Hi." It was all she could think of since he had scared the common sense of asking where her classes were out. She was never easily startled, so she was wondering why she hadn't sensed him at all, and when she actually thought about it, the guy's normal aura was enshrouded by a black mist.

"Pardon me for startling you, but with your attire, I thought you might have been interested in my club," he said rather calmly. "You're obviously new, so I thought I had a chance for a new accomplice."

He had noted that she wasn't wearing the uniform dress, since she wasn't wealthy enough to afford it, but he still didn't seem to care, and an even more of a surprised that he approved of it. During the entrance exams, the other students had already snickered at her clothes, so he couldn't be too bad, she had hoped. "Would you mind showing me where my classrooms are?" She asked, purposely avoiding his club as the subject. It wasn't as if she was uninterested, she just wasn't into the whole rituals and curse-casting. Okay, she really didn't want to join because she would rather be reading and writing.

"Will you join my club?" He asked, suddenly looming over her with a creepy grin and a glint from beneath his bangs, giving her chills again. He was about to touch her shoulder with his left, but Iiyo shoved him back harder, but not enough for him to fall.

"OK, OK, I'll join!" she yelled. It was a good thing no one was around at the moment. She calmed down before continuing. "Just, just don't touch me. Please." She started to fidget with her hands, hoping that he wouldn't ask, or act too excited that she was joining his occult club. What am I about to get myself into? She thought.

His eager smile turned into a grin, so he was obviously happy, but the black mist surrounding him still wouldn't let Iiyo see his aura, to let her know if he was really happy, or if he was scheming something. She didn't know if this was a bad or a 'normal' thing, so she was getting a little nervous. Iiyo couldn't tell if she was nervous of him or what was happening. In a creepy tone, he said, "Welcome. I'm Nekozawa Umehito, the Black Magic Club President. What is your name?" His hair parted just enough to see his left blue eye, showing an eagerness towards her.

"Fukuda Iiyo," she replied softly. "Can you please just show me where my classes are?" The sooner he showed her around, the sooner she could get away. Thinking of a way out of the club, however, was going to be a problem to think of for another time.

Umehito's smile shrunk down as he wondered about something. "'Fukuda'?" He said aloud, as if testing her family name on his tongue. "You'll definitely be a good addition to the club." He reached in his cloak and pulled out a wooden cat doll. "If you write the name of a person you hate, he will be showered with misfortune."

"Fascinating," Iiyo said, with sarcasm thick in her tone. She didn't take the cat, but she took out her schedule and held it out towards him. It seemed to her that asking him wasn't going to work.

He seemed disappointed that she had wanted something else that didn't involve his club. Umehito took her schedule, not coming into contact with Iiyo, and looked at it. His smile returned, and Iiyo grew worried again. "Excellent. We have the same homeroom together."

Damn it! Iiyo cursed. What were the chances?

The bell rang, which disappointed Iiyo greatly. She was hoping to be in her seat well before the bell rang. "At lunch, I can show you where your elective and home-ec classes are since those are the only classes we don't have together," Umehito said as he walked towards where she hoped was class, and not down some dark creepy corridor where there was a hidden dungeon miles beneath the surface.