Interview with the Yokai

Chapter 1

" We'll see Matsumoto-san, for right now, don't you have an interview to get to?," Oze said, deftly redirecting Shoji back to writing about the school election.

" I'm going Tanto-san, I wouldn't keep the girls waiting," Shoji said as he made his way out of the computer lab waiving at Oze over his shoulder.

Shoji walked down the hallway and made his way to the roof. It was an odd place to meet for an interview with the candidates, but the girls had gotten tired of talking to Shoji in their classroom. Shoji couldn't blame them, Shoji and all four of the girls who were candidates were all part of class 1-2, and after a full day of sitting in the classroom, it made sense that they didn't want to spend more time than necessary in the room. Shoji opened the door to the roof and was hit with a chill, even though it was a warm sunny day. The shiver was caused by the four girls waiting for him on the roof, Toyoma Benihime, Hanekawa Mari, Hanzo Yayaka, and Kojima Noriko, if Oze caused an odd feeling in Shoji these four girls caused Shoji to feel like he was drowning in a pool of oddness. Once again like Oze the oddness was in no way caused by how the girls looked, in fact all four were quite beautiful.

" Hello Toyama-san, Hanekawa-san, Hanzo-san, Kojima-san," Shoji said.

" There's no need to be so formal Shoji-san, we're all friends here aren't we?" Hanekawa Mari said, the girl was the most mischievous of the four.

" Alright Mari-san, if the rest of you agree that is," Shoji said. The rest of the girls nodded, though Toyama Benihime seemed reticent.

" Well I'm going to try to make this quick, I think myself and the rest of class have gotten to know you girls rather well through the debates you've had with each other, so today I want to have a discussion of your thoughts on what you'll be doing for the cultural festival," Shoji said as the group made their way to some empty chairs. It really was a nice day, the Sun was slowly lowering in the sky, giving it the look of a blazing fire and there was no one else on the roof, the view was just for Shoji and the four girls with him.

" It's very beautiful up here isn't it?," Noriko asked. Noriko was a member of the Judo Club, in fact she was a bit of a prodigy, having reached the nationals in middle school. This might have made her intimidating if not for the fact that she was very down to Earth and kind hearted. Noriko was also the head of the unofficial anti-bullying movement, she took bullying seriously and had quickly become beloved by those who had been bullied in the past. It was hard to imagine her actually hurting anyone, though by the same token she also had a strong presence that would deter anyone looking to harm her. Noriko also had quite a few boys who cheered her own, not only because of her athletic abilities, but because she was quite beautiful. She had a muscular build, but was still curvy and busty, was taller than most girls, had shoulder length hair, that could be a bit wild, and expressive eyes that let her caring nature shine through most of the time, but could also be quite intimidating when she was upset.

" Yes it is, but I should get to work and not waste any of your time," Shoji said pulling a chair in front of the four girls and pulling out his voice recorder and notepad.

" I guess journalist aren't poets," Mari said a small smirk on her face.

" What do you mean by that?" Shoji asked wondering why a thought like that had come into Mari's head.

" If you were a poet you would have said the sky is beautiful, but even it would be envious of Noriko-chan," Mari said a sly smile on her face. That was Mari's nature she was mischievous and of the four girls the one most likely to be quarrelsome and start arguments. While some might see this as a sign that she was childish, Shoji thought it was out of boredom, borne from the fact that the girl was a legitimate genius. She was the top student in their year and in all honesty probably should have been a third year, but refused to skip grades. She seemed to enjoy spending her time people watching and manipulating people, though most people didn't notice, because of her quirky nature making her seem like a child. Mari despite showing no interest whatsoever in the opposite sex, had a cult of followers all far too scared to confess. That was the other part to her nature, while Mari could seem like a playful kid at times, she also had an intimidating nature that could rival Noriko's. When she stared someone down with her eyes, it felt like you were a mouse cornered by a cat that was just playing with you. Still boys fell for Mari, she had a lean body, from being part of the Gymnastics Club, wore her hair in two pigtails, and always had a playful smile on her face.