Just your luck.
You stood in the middle of the hallway, throwing your head back and groaning as you finally admitted to yourself that you were lost.
"I should've just taken that tour when I had the chance," you muttered as you continued to wander around aimlessly. "I wanna go home."
Hearing footsteps, you looked down to see a boy with blonde hair standing at the end of the hallway. He looked around until he saw you, and his eyes widened.
"Are you Y/n L/n?" He asked, and you nodded slowly. "Oh great," he let out a sigh of relief as he approached you. You watched in confusion as he took your hand in his and shook it, and you felt a sudden chill run down your spine.
'This guy's spiritual energy is off the charts.'
You looked up at him. He wasn't an apparition. Could he be an exorcist?
"I'm Teru Minamoto. We're in the same class, but when you didn't show up, I went to look for you," he explained, and you quickly shook the thoughts from your head. "Did you get lost?"
You pulled your hand away and lowered your head in embarrassment, ready to stubbornly deny it, only for your eyes to land on the sheath attached to his belt. Seeing this made you sure that he was an exorcist.
Following your gaze, the male rested his hand on his sword and pushed it back in an attempt to shield it from sight.
"I assigned someone to give you a tour when you first got here. His name was Yuki, didn't you two meet?" More embarrassment sank in, and you quickly shook your head.
"N-nope, I don't remember meeting anyone," you lied, and Teru nodded. "I'll have to talk to him later," he muttered to himself before turning back to you. "But, that's fine. I don't have time to give you a tour of the entire school, but I can at least show you where your classes are."
As much as you wanted to be left alone, seeing as this was the fourth time you'd gotten lost today, you reluctantly nodded, letting the male grab your arm and lead you down the hall.
"Over there's your locker," Teru said, pointing over to one of the lockers. "And right there is our second-period class. Your third-period class is across the hall from it right over there, so it should make things a bit easier."
He finally stopped in front of the stairs on the first floor.
"And that's everything," he said. "You can head back to class if you want, but there are only a few minutes before the bell rings, so you won't have time to do anything."
"Thanks," you said, turning to head to your next class.
"Oh, and one more thing," he said as you walked away, and his next words made you freeze in place.
"You're an exorcist, too, right?"
You turned to face him with wide eyes, his charming pretty boy demeanor disappearing as he stared at you with a cold, emotionless expression.
"Why do you care?" You asked, and the blonde male chuckled.
"Since there aren't many exorcists out there, news doesn't travel very fast among us, but it's a completely different story when it comes to well-known clans like mine and yours. You're after Hanako, correct?"
That's when the realization hit you.
He was from the Minamoto clan. You didn't pay too much attention to learning about the other exorcist clans, but even you knew how strong this clan was. You prepared to reach into your bag, his new attitude putting you on edge more than anyone or anything you had ever met.
"Well, I'm after him too, but I've heard how high your family's expectations are for you, so I'll let you have this one. But if you don't kill him, I'll happily take on the job myself, deal?" You didn't want to see this guy's reaction if you told him that you were currently working for the ghost he was talking about and instead nodded slowly. In a split second, his charming persona had returned, and you found yourself letting out a small breath of relief.
"Well, it was nice meeting you. I'll be seeing you soon, alright?"
You walked into your classroom, where everyone was sitting and talking with each other.
"Good morning, Y/n!" You turned to your English teacher, Mr. Ito, sitting at his desk. "Here's the book the class is reading right now. You'll need to catch up fast if-" He reached onto his desk, only to grab at nothing. He looked down at the empty desk, and his brow furrowed in confusion.
"It was just here. I-I'm sorry, I don't know what happened," he said, looking under the table and in one of the piles.
"It's fine," you assured. "I've read that book before anyway, so you can just give it to me tomorrow." You walked back to your desk and sat down, preparing for another forty-five minutes of staring at the class, only for a tap on your shoulder to catch your attention. You turned to see the boy from yesterday standing there.
'What was his name again? Yuri? Yui?'
"Hey, Y/n," he greeted nervously, scared that he'd get the same treatment as yesterday. Just as you were about to tell him to go away, you remembered where being rude got you last time, and instead, you bit your tongue.
"Oh...Hey," you said awkwardly. "Um...Yuto, right?" He shook his head.
"It's Yuki, remember?"
"Oh, right. Sorry about that," you said.
"It's fine. Anyways, are you settling in okay?" He asked, sitting down in the seat in front of you and turning around.
"Yeah. This school is kinda nice," you admitted, even though the only experience you've had so far has been cleaning the bathrooms.
"I'm glad to hear that." The blonde smiled. "So, have you made any friends yet?" You were about to say yes but quickly stopped yourself.
"Um, not really, no," you lied, not really eager to tell him that your only friend was a ghost lurking in the girls' bathroom.
"Oh, well, y-you're really pretty...So I'm sure you'll make a lot of friends soon." Your eyes widened at his words, and he blushed at your reaction.
"Oh," you said, letting his words sink in.
'No one's called me pretty before.'
Seemingly realizing what he just said, his face heated up.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say that out loud!" he said, and you quickly shook your head.
"No, it's fine. You just surprised me at first, but thank you." You smiled at him, and he felt his heartbeat quicken.
"Alright, everyone, please head to your seat," said Mr. Ito, and Yuki gave you an apologetic look.
"I'll see you later," he said, standing up and heading to his seat, and you smiled before turning to face the window.
"Akari, can you read page fifty-four to the class?" The teacher said, and a red-haired girl stood up.
"Yes, sir." A redheaded girl stood up and reached for her book, but like Mr. Ito, she grabbed at nothing.
"Wait, what? It was just here!" She looked around the desk, searching for her missing book.
"It's fine," Mr. Ito said, calling on another person.
"Strange," you murmured.
Once class was over, you were about to head out but stopped when you overheard some of your classmates talking.
"Have any of you seen my lunch?"
"Which of you stole my figurine?"
"Oh no, my math book is gone!"
All of this couldn't just be an accident. You look in your bag, making sure nothing had gone missing, and your eyes widened when you realized your staff was nowhere in sight.
"There's no way someone could've stolen it. My bag was on my lap the whole time." You frantically dug through your bag, but your staff wasn't there.
"So you're missing something too, huh?" You turned to see Yuki standing behind you.
"Yeah, my st- my phone is missing," you said, going back to look around your desk.
'Not here either...'
"It seems like everyone is losing things at the moment. I fell asleep in class, and now my reading glasses are gone," he said, and you huffed in frustration.
'I need that staff.'
"Why is this happening?" You asked, and Yuki shrugged.
"Must be the work of Yousei." You turned to stare at the male in confusion.
"Who?"
"You haven't heard the story of Yousei?" Yuki asked in disbelief. You shook your head.
"Well, Yousei is a apparition. It takes things from right under your nose, and you'll never notice. But the story says to never look at it because if you do, it will take your life without you even noticing."
'I have to talk to Hanako about this.'
Without a word, you walked past him, so deep in thought that you completely forgot that he was still standing there.
"Wait, where are you going?" He called.
"To talk to someone," you responded absentmindedly.
You walked down the hall, on your way to the bathroom, only to find yourself in an empty hallway.
"Crap," you muttered, the fact that you still didn't know the complete layout of this school now becoming more apparent to you.
"Alright, if I just go back the way I came then-" Just as you turned around, your eyes landed on a familiar pair of glasses laying on the ground. You walked over and picked them up to inspect them.
"These are Yuki's glasses," you muttered, but then your eyes landed on a familiar object.
"And my staff." You picked it up and placed it back in your bag before looking down the hall, where a trail of other random objects led intoo a classroom. You followed them, and slowly opened the door, and peeked inside.
The classroom was dark, but you could barely make out a dark figure standing in the middle. You squinted, trying to make out who or what it could be. Suddenly, the figure turned to face you, two eyes opening to stare at you intensely.
Followed by two more.
"You...Saw...Us..." The creature muttered, trying to grab you. You jumped back, gripping your staff and pressing the button to make it expand as the creature finally stepped out of the shadows. It was huge and had numerous eyes that were currently all focused on you. It slowly reached out to grab you, and you swung your staff, hitting it in the arm. The creature groaned at the electric shot that was sent through its body. It cried out in pain before reaching out to grab you, wrapping its arms around your body and squeezing tightly.
"Scatter them, Haku-joudai!" A familiar voice came from behind the monster, and you watched with a dazed look as a bright light enveloped the creature, making it disappear and drop you to the ground.
"That weapon of yours doesn't seem to have a strong effect on apparitions."
Approaching footsteps finally made you snap out of your daze, and you looked up to see Hanako crouching down beside you.
"Or maybe you wanted me to come to save you," he teased. You stared at him for a moment before quickly standing up and dusting yourself off.
"No way. I had everything taken care of," you lied, and Hanako chuckled. Suddenly, something landing on your head made you jump and turn to see numerous small pink rabbit-like creatures lying on the ground, seemingly passed out.
"What are those?" You asked as they began to wake up.
"They're Mokke," Hanako said as the creatures stared up at you with watery eyes. "They've always lived around humans. They're known for stealing things and pulling little pranks."
"So these are the oh so terrifying Yousei?" You asked, poking one of them.
"Cut it out," it whispered.
"They're shapeshifters. When they feel threatened, they'll cluster together like how you saw. Normally they don't attack humans."
"We never wanted to kill anyone," one of the Mokke explained, its child-like voice making your heart melt. "But they changed our story without asking us. We never wanted it this way."
"Story?" You turned to look at Hanako for an explanation.
"Apparitions aren't able to go against the rumors that are created about them, so as humans exaggerate and alter the story, apparitions have no choice but to act accordingly. Those who don't align with their folklore will disappear entirely," he explained. You felt a soft tapping on your hand and looked down to see one of the Mokke sitting there with its ear wrapped around your staff.
"Here you go," it said, and you smiled, gently taking it and placing it back in your bag.
"Thanks," you said, petting it on the head, making it giggle. You watched as the rest of them snacked on candy they took from someone.
"Y/n." You turned to look up at Hanako. "I need you to change to rumors about the Mokke for me."
"But why me?" You questioned.
"Who else than my assistant? As one of the seven wonders of the school, it's my responsibility to monitor all apparitions on campus and maintain order between humans and our kind. So if I see murderous apparitions around, I have to end them. However, you have the power to save them. They will become whatever the humans believe."
You felt something soft wrap around your hand and once again looked down to see the Mokke staring up at you pleadingly.
"Please help us," it begged.
"Sorry for hurting you earlier."
"This is our home! We've lived here for centuries!"
"We just wanna stay, please?"
"I understand they tried to kill you," Hanako said. "So you may not want to-"
"I'll do it." You pet the Mokke on the head, not being able to help the soft smile that spread across your face. "I'll do everything in my power to help. How could I not help such cute little creatures?"
If Hanako had a heart, he was sure that the sight of your smile would make it beat quicker than ever, and he couldn't help but wish you'd smile at him like that.
"Oh, and Hanako." As if granting his wish, he looked up to see you smiling at him. "Thank you for saving me." He stared at you for a moment, your smile reminding him of someone else. He pulled his hat down over his eyes and lowered his head.
"It was nothing," he said quietly as he began walking up the stairs.
You watched him with a confused expression.
"Did I say something he didn't like?" you wondered aloud before eventually shrugging it off and turning your attention back to the Mokke.
"So what should I change your rumor too?" You asked, and that's when your eyes landed on the bag of candy.
"That's it!"
Hanako stood on the roof, staring out at the garden as memories flooded his mind.
'My name Yashiro Nene!' The voice echoed in his mind, and he pulled his hat over his eyes.
"Why'd you have to go on and forget about me?"
"Great, now my hairpin is gone too."
"You've been losing things a lot lately. You'd better hope it's not Yousei, or you could end up dead."
"Well, that's partly true," you said, walking up to two girls who were standing outside of a classroom.
"What do you mean?" One asked, and you held out a handful of candy to the two of them.
"If you look directly at Yousei, it will take your life, but if you carry some candy around with you, it will make them forget all about stealing your things, and they won't want to kill you," you explained.
"Wow, thanks," the girls said, taking the candy and placing it in their bag, and you nodded before heading to the bathroom.
You let out a sigh of relief as you sank to the floor, which was practically sparkling from how well you cleaned it. You had spent the entire rest of the day spreading the new rumor, and the nervousness of talking to all of these people you didn't know had really worn you out.
"Thank you for helping them."
You looked up to see Hanako standing with his back towards you and facing the window.
"It was nothing," you responded, still noticing there was something off about his attitude.
"Hey, did I say something wrong earlier?" You asked, and he turned to look at you questioningly.
"What makes you say that?"
"After I thanked you earlier you went quiet all of a sudden, so I was just wondering," you explained.
"You just...reminded me of an old friend," Hanako shrugged. "She was my old assistant. She disliked cleaning the bathrooms too, but even though you hate it, I look forward to it, even more than I did back then. It was lonely after she left, so having you here to talk to, reminded me of what it was like to have a friend." You lowered your head thoughtfully before raising it to smile at him.
"We are friends, aren't we?" Hanako turned to stare at you with wide eyes, but a smile slowly made its way onto his face.
"Yeah...We are."
And he'd do anything to make it stay that way.