Misawa Cram School

Things had taken a turn for the strange at Misawa cram school. Ever since the school had changed hands the entire place seemed to have developed an eerie atmosphere. The building had always had something of a peculiar vibe to it but that sensation had only grown more unsettling as time had passed.

Koizumi Itsuki knew this more than anyone.

Perhaps it was because of his ability that he didn't seem to be affected. But if he were to hazard a guess he would say that he was likely the only one remaining in the building who was still themselves, so to speak.

The boy considered this possibility for a moment. It made his skin crawl to think of it. After all, what if they were to find out that he wasn't one of them? He shuddered to think. It was like that movie, 'Invasion of the body snatchers'. Ah, that was too creepy to think about and now he'd scared himself.

No, calm down. Itsuki reminded himself. PAnicking would do no one any good.

Yes. Something was definitely up with the residents of Misawa cram school. Overnight they had, all at once started to act almost like zombies. The front lobby of the school was eerily silent as students and staff alike filed to and from the various rooms like drones in a hive. Whatever had happened they were no longer the teachers and students he knew.

All he knew was that it had something to do with the man named Aureolus Izzard.

Kita walked down the streets towards Misawa cram school, she was panting as it looked like she had only recently stopped running.
'I wonder if I'm running late?' Kita thought as she looked up at the sky instead of down at her watch which had stopped working half an hour ago.

"There she is!" A shout from down the road was a few tall guys.
"huh me?" Kita looked at them and pointed to herself as if to question if they were referring to her.
It seemed like mockery as she knew they were after her as she had previously stole something from their hide-out earlier in the day. Still she wasn't expecting the same people to go chasing her across the city.

"I'm sorry, but I'm running late for an appointment" Kita said winking at the group and turning round the corner away from the group to lose them.
As Kita turned round the next corner though she was knocked backwards onto the floor; looking up Kita saw a man standing there.

Itsuki staggered as something ran into him from behind. Was he under attack? In this strange place it wouldn't surprise him. Bracing himself for the worst he turned to face whatever it was that had collided with him so suddenly.

Imagine his surprise when he found himself staring down at the girl with long brown pigtails.

By the looks of things she wasn't one of 'them'. That was a small relief at least, but it raised more problems.

Kneeling down in front of the fallen girl, Itsuki held out his hand to help her up.

"It's not safe to be here." He warned her in a hushed voice as he drew closer. "Something very strange is going on in this school." He looked around with a suspicious glance. It seemed the other 'students' milling about the entrance hall hadn't noticed them. At least not yet.

"I know, but I've kinda already got some attention" Kita replied as she grabbed the stranger's hand and pulled herself up.

There were 3 guys approaching Kita from where she came from, none of them looking particularly pleased. Their clothes were baggy and the leader of the group had his arms showing with a display of snake tattoos.
"We'll teach those who steal from us, a new world of pain" The leader said clicking his knuckles with his 2 side buddies grinning next to him.

Kita looked at them and didn't seem intimidated at all; in fact she seemed irritated more than anything.
"I've got nothing on me!" Kita responded patting herself down to show she had nothing concealed. Her bluff worked, but this didn't let the group drop the subject.
"Then your gonna show us where you stashed it!" The leader then darted forward to attack, completely blanking out the stranger who had helped Kita up.

Itsuki watched the confrontation with anxious bemusement. This girl was attracting too much attention. The other students turned to face the group with blank, zombie like expressions and Itsuki felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Uhh, miss..." He tapped Kita on the shoulder to get her attention.

They were advancing with slow, purposeful steps, closing in on them from all sides.

"Now might be a good time to run..." He suggested to her, taking off for the safety of the school's maze like corridors.

The mind controlled students descended on the group like a pack of animals.

"Uhh, miss..." Kita ignored the pokes and dodged an attack from the taller guy.
"Now might be a good time to run..."

The taller guy who had just missed hitting Kita was grabbed by the zombified students, along with his friends.
As Kita watched confused she was grabbed by a male student and she promptly teleported the student upside down. "Pervert!" Kita shouted but the crowd didn't respond like she'd expect and she began to wonder what was wrong with these people.

Stepping back away from the crowd which had subdued her tormentors, she turned and began to run off in the direction of the stranger.
'Oh come on, I was only here to pick up an essay!' Kita cried out in her head as she started to catch up with the stranger.

"Quick, this way!" Itsuki called out, diving into an empty classroom. He slammed the door shut after Kita and scrambled to take refuge behind a desk. His heart was pounding in his ears and he held his breath as he heard the rattle of the doorknob turning.

He didn't dare move.

The blank faced student swept their vacant eyes across the empty classroom and stood for a moment, unmoving before closing the door behind them to continue their search elsewhere.

Itsuki exhaled heavily.

"That was close..." He sighed with relief and turned to Kita, his expression cracking into a broken smile. "Looks like you chose a bad day to turn up to a new school, huh?" Daring a quick glance above the desk he could see that their pursuers had moved on. With luck they'd forget all about them soon enough.

"I'm Koizumi Itsuki." He introduced himself. "A pleasure to meet you." He bowed formally. Despite the odd circumstances, he was not one to forget his manners.

"Nope, I'd say I've been pretty lucky today" Kita muttered thinking back at the thugs who were chasing her earlier while examining a small SD card before making it vanish.

"Those students are acting strange and its peaked my curiosity" Kita smiled as she peaked down the corridor before turning to look back at Itsuki. "Name's Mori Kita" She introduced herself without bothering to bow.

"Any idea what kind of ability could do this? I'm placing my bets on telepathy" Kita frowned as she mentioned the word telepathy.

"Nope, I'd say I've been pretty lucky today Those students are acting strange and its peaked my curiosity Name's Mori Kita"

Itsuki's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Well, you're braver than I am." He chuckled, staying close behind the girl as she examined the corridor. And perhaps more than a little crazy... He made sure to keep that part to himself. Offending the only other 'normal' person in this place wouldn't be the best idea, he decided.

"Any idea what kind of ability could do this? I'm placing my bets on telepathy"

"Ah, well I'm not sure. All I know is it started when the new 'Head' arrived." His smile faded into a concerned frown. "Aureolus Izzard." He said that name with the quiet reverence of a curse. As though speaking it might summon the man himself. "For some reason I appear to be the only one not affected. But-" He stopped suddenly.

At the other end of the corridor a woman dressed in the traditional red and white of a shrine maiden was walking towards them. Itsuki's blood froze. Was she one of them? The dark haired beauty was walking towards them with a blank expression, like some sort of ghost. Oh God, it was like something from a J-horror movie.

He recognised her though. This was Himegami Aisa... What was she doing here?

"Seriously?" Kita notices Itsuki looking at Himegami. "This place really needs a well placed coffee machine, but anyway.. we better get moving as no good comes from hiding all day. I learnt that lesson once before"

Kita approached Himegami cautiously as she did she began to think of what items she had on her which could silence Himegami if she was in fact one of the zombified students; a simply teleport upside down followed by a piece of cloth to stop any screaming would stop any unwanted attention from the other students.

"Your not half dead like the other students here are you?" Kita said smirking. She had a feeling this girl was okay the closer she drew to her as her expression in her eyes changed unlike the other students.

Itsuki nodded.

"This is Himegami Aisa." He said, almost as though confirming it to himself that the person in front of him was who he thought it was. "I didn't believe the stories until now, but..." He trailed off. It was a popular urban legend among the students of Misawa. A ghostly girl dressed in white and red who stalked the corridors of the school. He turned his back to the girl suddenly and whispered to Kita, shielding his mouth with his hand.

"Look, whatever's going on here, there's a chance she's involved." He glanced back quickly to the girl.

Kita shrugs to the comment, as far as she was concerned so was she.
"I dunno what rumors are spreading, but I'm just here to grab something from a friend" Kita crossed her arms. "I'm seeking to improve my abilities"

Itsuki looked at Kita incredulously.

"You're still thinking about something like that?" He could hardly believe his ears.

"Is it something important?" The quiet and demure voice of Himegami Aisa asked Kita. Her stare was intense. Unnerving even. Had she not spoken, Itsuki would have still believed her to be one of the possessed students. "If you're here, then it must be something important. I can help you find it." She offered.

"Do you think we can trust her?" The suspicious boy asked Kita, still whispering.

"Five hundred Yen." Aisa held out her hand for payment. It seemed her help came with a price tag.

"Seriously?" Kita smirked. "I know who has it and this kind of information should be free because I don't even know if its of any use to me"

The sound of approaching footsteps caught Kita's attention.
"We should get moving"

Aisa shrugged apathetically, but followed close behind Kita and Itsuki as they left the scene, turning down the branching hallways until any sense of direction had been lost utterly.

Itsuki came to an abrupt halt. Something in front of him had stopped him in his tracks.

The horrific sight was splattered across the walls like discarded paint. A suit of European style armour sat slumped against the wall, a long trail of drying blood tracing his path down to his final resting place.

As Kita saw the body lying there she frowned.
"I wonder who did this? If it was done by the students, then I won't forgive the person who made them do it" Kita spoke coldly.

Walking over to the body she looked it over trying to ignore the horrible stench of death that filled the air.
"I don't recognize these markings" Kita spoke holding her nose while pointing to some symbols on the armour.

Itsuki peered closer at the etchings that Kita pointed to. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he pondered their meaning for a second. He straightened up with a serious look of concern on his face, as though he was preparing to break bad news to the girls.

"I haven't a clue either." He admitted with an apologetic smile. Himegami shook her head quietly with disappointment.

The sound of chanting drifted to their ears not long after. A chorus of voices that seemed to resonate through the walls of the school. Drawing closer to the source of the noise, Itsuki risked a quick glance into the classroom. The students stood, still as statues as they sang. A small sphere of light hovered in front of the eyes of each of them. An orb of incandescant light that cast no shadow.

"What in the world..." Itsuki muttered under his breath as he watched.

Kita pulls Itsuki back to block his line of sight. "Are you wanting to get zombified?" She whispers harshly. "Come on we gotta.."

As Kita turned around she found herself being jumped by a group of students who knocked the group into the room with the chanting students.
'Oh just great' Kita thought as they were no longer hidden.

The chanting students fell silent. As one they turned their heads to face the intruders. Now that he was this close, Itsuki could see that they were bleeding. The fresh cuts were shallow and small, but they covered the skin of the chanting students.

The hovering lights drifted towards Kita and Itsuki while several of the zombified figures who had knocked them into the room seized Aisa. The girl made no attempt to resist, apparently resigned to her fate as she was led away.

Kita quickly tried to assess the situation looking for an exit.
It was unlikely she'd be able to cross the room and behind her the students blocked her path so that left her with few options.

Resign to what was going on, try fighting the many students and possible injury them or.. the window was unblocked to Kita but it didn't seem like they'd think anybody would try going out that way anyway.

Kita wasn't anybody though as she could use it as an escape but it still left Itsuki at the hands of the zombified students.
It seemed pointless waiting around and if anything was going to happen to Itsuki he'd have to figure it out on his own as Kita needed to look out for herself first before she could assist anybody else.

Rushing over to the window Kita touched it and had it moved from one hand to the other acting like a makeshift shield while she prepared herself to jump down.  It had to be the first or second floor they were on; guaranteed to break some bones if landing badly or bruises if breaking out into a roll.

Kita on the other hand planned to do a timed teleport before landing to break her fall, but this was what she feared with Itsuki as he'd be unable to follow her unless he was actually desperate.


The group was closing in fast and without many options Kita didn't look back and jumped.

Continued in A Certain Magical Index - Arc 2