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Atsushi barged into the disciplinary committee's office, holding his bag close to his chest. He let out a few pants as he struggled to catch his breath, gaining the attention of the other committee members?
"Atsushi?" Kunikida calls out, pausing in his work. The white-haired boy holds up his hand, his chest still heaving for air. After a few minutes, he gulps and manages to stand up straight. Kunikida pushes up his glasses before asking, "What's gotten you so worked up?"
"Kunikida-senpai... It's the Tanizaki siblings!" Atsushi begins, hurriedly dumping his bag on his desk. "It's like... nobody remembers them! I asked everyone in Jun'ichirou's class and they all said they didn't know who he was! The same goes for Naomi-san!"
"Are you sure it isn't some prank Naomi set up to mess with us?" Kunikida huffs, turning back to his computer. "It's entirely possible they've gotten their classes involved."
"I mean... I guess," Atsushi mutters, seemingly embarrassed by his previously panicked state.
"Mm... no, you're far from being right, Kunikida-kun," Ranpo hums, leaning back in his chair. A lollipop stick pokes out from his lips as he stares ahead with closed eyes.
"Oh? Then what's the issue?" Kunikida questions, keeping his back turned to the third year. Ranpo hums softly before pulling the candy out of his mouth, twirling it by the stick.
"The Tanizaki siblings went to the art room," Ranpo points out, suddenly chomping on the remaining bit of his lollipop. "I warned them before they left but I guess they didn't listen."
"Oh? Are we dealing with the Honorable No. 2 this time around?" A familiar voice hums through the air. Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, which was more than likely considering the spirit's tendencies, (Name) could be found sitting on Fukuzawa's armrest. "To think we'd encounter more of the seven mysteries so soon..."
"No. 2... You're talking about the second of the seven mysteries, right?" Atsushi assumed, earning a nod from the spirit.
"Let's see... Was there anyone else acting the same way you are now?" (Name) questioned, prompting Atsushi to tilt his head.
"What do you mean?"
"Panicked and trying to convince everyone that somebody existed," (Name) pointed out, hiding their arms under their black trenchcoat. "Like anyone in your class?"
"Um... Oh, Yashiro-san!" Atsushi gasps. (Name) nodded in acknowledgment before walking over to Atsushi and grabbing his arm. They began pulling him towards the door, calling over their shoulder, "We'll be off, then!"
"Come back in one piece!" Ranpo shouted back as (Name) closed the door behind them.
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"Ah, they've beaten us here." (Name) sighed, spotting a familiar trio standing in front of the bleeding staircase. Atsushi trembled beside (Name), his eyes wide as he watched the red liquid drip and pool on the fourth step.
"Y-Yashiro-san..." Atsushi nervously called out, startling the girl in front of him.
"Nakajima-san!" Yashiro shrieked, leaping a few feet as she turned. She puffed out her cheeks once she regained her composure, whining, "Don't scare me like that!"
"Oh?" (Name) hummed, their eyes landing on the blond exorcist. "If it isn't the little exorcist."
"(Name)-san!" Hanako cheered at the sight of the spirit. (Name) nodded to the seventh mystery before bringing their attention back to the staircase.
"I'm guessing the two of you are here for the same reason we are," they hummed, their eyes following each drop of liquid. "We shouldn't delay then. Let's get to it?"
"Sounds good!" Hanako beamed, lifting his foot and harshly stomping on the first step. "Here goes. One!"
"What?! Already?!" Yashiro gasps. (Name) is quick to follow Hanako, calmly stepping on the second stair.
"Two."
"Three!" Hanako cheered next, prompting the other three to hurry to fall in step with the spirits.
"Four."
In the blink of an eye, the group found themselves in front of a cluttered room. A bridge separated them from the rest of the domain which consisted of a tori gate and several staircases. Lanterns lined the skies, illuminating the red structures with yellow lights.
"Well, Misaki Stairs, you sure are doing your own thing," Hanako hummed quietly, adjusting his hat. (Name) scratched the patch on their cheek quietly, letting their gaze wander the domain they had only seen in passing.
"Let's head up, shall we?" (Name) proposed, taking the first step on the bridge. "No use in prolonging this trip."
(Name) and Hanako led the group up the various stairs, finally reaching a long stretch of the structure that was filled with trinkets and goods presumably stored in the boundary. The three humans paused for a moment, inspecting the dolls that stared at them through pieces of paper. (Name) and Hanako stopped in front of another tori gate that towered over another set of stairs. This staircase was no longer lined with trinkets and dolls. Instead, balls of orange light floated above each step.
"Hurry up, you three," Hanako called, spinning around to face the living trio.
"Atsushi-kun," (Name) called from over their shoulder, prompting the white-haired boy to jump and rush over. (Name) pat his shoulder lightly before asking, "So? What do you think?"
"It's... weird here," he mutters under his breath, looking around at the floating lights. "Where are we exactly?"
"A boundary," they respond, motioning out towards the steps. "This whole place is Honorable No. 2's to be specific. It's what connects the Near Shore to the Far Shore."
"Far...? Near...?" Atsushi echoed, earning a nod from the spirit.
"That's what the two worlds are called. Near Shore is where you live," (Name) jabs their finger at Atsushi's chest, "and the Far Shore is where spirits like me live," another jab at their own chest.
"Hey, Hanako!" Kou suddenly called as the spirit began floating up the stairs. "Nothing's here. Didn't you say I was gonna get shredded?"
"It won't do that right away," Hanako pointed out. "Ending things too quickly is boring, right?"
"I would say prolonging a person's suffering is more enjoyable," (Name) chimed in, glancing over their shoulder.
"You two are real pieces of work," Kou grumbled, rolling his eyes.
"Of course we are," Hanako nods, fully turning to face the other two humans. "We're spirits and I'm a part of the Seven Wonders. As the seven leaders of the school's apparitions, we need more humans to know about us. So, we threaten them."
"(Name)-san?" Atsushi muttered, glancing over at the spirit. "Why aren't you a Wonder? I mean, you seem pretty strong like Hanako-san."
(Name)'s expression falls into a stoic one, opting to stay silent and stare at the towering stairs in front of them. Atsushi continues to watch (Name) closely before jumping as a phone begins to ring, its alarm echoing throughout the boundary.
Slowly, Yashiro walks over to pick it up off the receiver. She held it up to her ear, muttering a soft "Hello?" under her breath.
"I am... Misaki," the voice on the other side introduced. (Name) and Atsushi walked back down the stairs to join the others crowding around the phone. (Name) stood behind the phone while Atsushi stood beside Kou. "I taught students in the schoolhouse at the top of these stairs. But... I was sliced up and died here. Right where you're standing now."
Well, that's surely a way to fulfill your legacy as a "terrifying" Wonder, (Name) hummed to themselves, watching as the color drained from Yashiro's face.
"Hey, you there," the voice calls out. "Find my body for me."
"W-Wait! Is Aoi--"
"First, my arm," she interrupts, unfazed by Yashiro's panicked tone. "My right arm. I use this hand to write with chalk. Hurry. Class begins soon."
"...She hung up," Yashiro mutters, pulling the phone away from her ear. A sound seemed to catch their attention as they turned towards the stairs. A platform that was not there before had suddenly appeared. The stairs now led to a red door and an hourglass. The hourglass flipped over slowly, allowing the sand to trickle to the bottom.
"So, we've got a time limit?" Kou huffs.
"Maybe we can go ahead if we put an arm in there?" Yashiro assumes, pointing at the box beside the door.
"I think something will happen no matter what we do," Atsushi points out.
"No sweat, Senpais!" Kou grins upon seeing the downcast expression of his upperclassmen. "Let's ignore that prank call and keep going!"
"Bad idea," (Name) hums softly, walking around the phone. "I get that you guys are humans and are pretty new to this boundary business but you need to have some sort of brain in that head, right?"
"(Name)-san!" Atsushi gasps, lightly hitting (Name)'s arm.
"We aren't just in a random place that joins the Near and Far Shore. We're in a Wonder's boundary, the second one to be specific. Honorable No. 2 has priority in their own domain and is thus unbeatable. But, by all means, let's see what happens when you anger a Wonder in their boundary. I'd love to see how she'll shred you to pieces."
"We won't stop you," Hanako adds, lightly pushing Kou closer to the edge.
"For now," Yashiro calls out nervously, stopping Hanako from pushing the exorcist off the platform, "let's look for an arm like she told us to. Going by her voice on the phone, it should be a woman's arm."
"If you say so, Senpai," Kou sighs, managing to run away from Hanako's murder attempt.
"Good idea," Hanako nods, prancing over to a dresser and digging through the drawers. (Name) peered over his shoulder, watching as the spirit's hands pushed past junk and trinkets. They couldn't help but note the slight amount of chub still present in Hanako's fingers. "Looking for things can be surprisingly fun. Look at this, boy. I found treasure!"
(Name) pursed their lips as Hanako pulled out a magazine, flipping the pages open to a two-page spread of a woman in a bra. And nothing else. Of course, the middle was covered in pink roses. Yashiro quickly left the two boys who were now arguing amongst each other about the magazine. Atsushi followed soon after, his pale face bright red from the picture. (Name) let out a soft sigh before trailing after the remaining two humans.
They found themselves surrounded by mundane objects: desks, drawers, wardrobes, the usual. They started pulling and pushing the drawers, sorting through the junk carelessly thrown inside of them. A certain object finally catches their eye, prompting them to grab it and pull it out of the drawer. They stare at it for a moment before walking away, having heard the distant sound of Yashiro's voice.
"Did you find the arm?" She asks once everyone gathers together.
"I did!" Kou cheers, holding out a muscly arm sculpture. Hanako merely laughs and throws up a robot arm.
"Ah, I don't think mine is gonna be that useful..." Atsushi mutters, hugging a tiger "arm" close to his chest. "It's the only one I could find..."
"I didn't think I'd find something like this here," (Name) hums, waving the severed arm around.
"Listen..." Yashiro sighed, holding up a mannequin arm. Her blank stare forces the other four to the ground as she scolds, "We're looking for a woman's right arm! Minamoto-kun, you just brought an arm you liked the look of! Hanako-kun, take this seriously! Nakajima-san, I appreciate the effort but please try harder! And (Name)-san...! I don't really want to know. Are you even listening?!"
The three boys had their eyes averted with Kou and Atsushi's cheeks dusted red while Hanako stared dumbfounded.
"Listen, Yashiro," he began. "I hate to say anything, but is something off about you?"
"It's not as flattering as you think it is, Yashiro-san," (Name) comments, earning a slap from Atsushi beside them.
"I-I'm pretty sure I'm the same as usual," Yashiro manages to keep her composure, flipping her hair over her shoulder. The movement also sends the padded bra falling to the floor. Before anyone could offer words of encouragement, Yashiro squeals and throws the bra away, sending it flying over the edge into nothingness. "Oh... That was... um... you know. It's... not what you think."
"You don't have to say anything," Hanako reassures, lightly patting Yashiro's shoulder. Kou and Atsushi nod behind them while (Name) merely snickers, muffling the sound with their hand. Before they knew it, the sand falling in the hourglass stopped, having reached the time limit. The humans looked around nervously while the two spirits remained unfazed.
"It's time," a chorus of voices chanted. The voices emitted from the faceless dolls that lined the walkway. "It's time for class."
"We just had to turn the arm in," Yashiro whines, her eyes darting around until they landed on the box.
"Who's late for class?" The voices asked.
"Come and get me! I'll turn the tables on you!" Kou threatened, holding his staff in front of him. In the blink of an eye, a giant pair of scissors opened in front of them, threatening to cut them from the neck.
"Get down!" Hanako and (Name) shouted, pushing the humans' heads down to force them into a squat. The scissors repositioned itself, allowing the group to run up the stairs.
"The one late for class is..." A voice drawled from behind them, the doll belonging to it grabbing Yashiro's ankle. "...you."
"Yashiro!" Hanako gasped, slapping away at the other dolls that tried to crawl up him. He launched himself from his position, tackling Yashiro out of the way of the scissors. (Name) paused in rushing up the stairs, immediately shoving their hand into their trenchcoat. Instinctively, their hand found the holster that they kept hidden in the coat, pulling out the gun that was secured inside of it.
They aimed their gun up toward the pair of scissors that Hanako had been fighting for a few minutes. Slowly, they pointed it towards the bolt that held it together. And before they knew it, a gunshot echoed throughout the boundary before a clang followed. The metal dropped to the ground in front of Hanako, who glanced over his shoulder and nodded to (Name).
"I trust you can handle the dolls," he hummed, earning a nod from the spirit.
"Of course," they responded, turning to face the endless dolls that swarmed the staircase. "Atsushi-kun! Get the dolls away from you!"
"That was the plan!" Atsushi pointed out, kicking the dolls away. (Name) turned around and fired at the rest of the dolls, watching as the bullets cracked their faces and sent them tumbling down the stairs.
"Wow. That's the stuff," Hanako praised, watching the dolls roll down the staircase. He caught Yashiro who had tripped from the dolls and hoisted her under his arm. "Now, let's go. Run!"
"But the door isn't--" Yashiro was interrupted as the Mokke bounded towards them, each one carrying the arms the group had found.
"Quick, offer the arm!" Hanako commanded, pointing at the open box. Kou was the first to act on the demand, tossing the wooden arm he had found into the box. The doors slammed shut, seemingly accepting the offering. The doors in front of the group opened, allowing them to escape the horrors of dolls and scissors.
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hey i'm still updating! uhh finals were last week so i was doing that :)
side note, twisted wonderland is pretty cool :))