Since joining the SOS-dan, I have been subjected to many strange experiences. I have watched red giants destroying a silent, lifeless world, and be cut apart themselves by spheres of soft, blue radiance with humans at their center. I have been in a room that was being restructured around me, while a classmate tried to murder me in order to see how Haruki would respond. And I have been at a manor on an otherwise uninhabited island, where a murder mystery was taking place.
And I have seen the Oni fighting with the fate of the world at stake, though they did it for meat and beans.
All in all, I could die a happy woman if I never have to see that sort of thing again. From now on, I want my Oni to be nothing more than men in masks at festivals.
And so it should not be surprising that I was first at the school gate on Sunday. I had anticipated that it would be locked, had not really expected the place to be bustling with activity, but it was ... quiet.
No birds were singing in the trees, the wind wasn't blowing. Even the sounds from the city at the foot of the hill seemed muted, distant. If I looked down, I could see a thick fog rising, obscuring the roads, the trees, the buildings.
Even with my little brother there, I felt strangely alone, isolated. Of course he was asleep just now. He'd almost fallen down halfway up the hill, obliging me to carry him the rest of the way; he was snoring softly against my neck.
I felt goosebumps marching up and down my spine. When I tried to shake them off, my little brother mumbled and stirred. "Wha's goin' on?" he slurred.
"We're here," I told him. "Time to get off my back and use those little legs of yours."
He complied with good grace. "How long until we start?" he asked as he looked around with bright eyes.
Even if you ask me that, I don't kn -- Ah! I saw something moving in the fog, which was crawling up the hill as if it was following my tracks. Nagato stepped out of the fog as if he had been magically summoned, the big drum tucked securely under his arm.
You're a sight for sore eyes, Nagato! I just hope the rest of our performers arrive soon.
Nagato looked down on me in silence for a moment, then nodded incrementally. He did not respond to my brother's cheerful 'good morning', but gave him a similar nod. "Others are coming," he announced, as if he were discussing the weather.
This turned out to be Tsuruya-sempai, with Taniguchi and Kunikida in tow.
"G'morning, miss ultra director!" Tsuruya-san saluted me, grinning from ear to ear. He was already wearing the garments of a priest, his costume, which clashed with his carefree smile and happy-go-lucky expression. It most certainly clashed with the one-armed hug he gave me. The other arm was engaged in carrying a tote bag.
"Look what I found at the bottom of the hill!" he joked, pointing at Taniguchi and Kunikida, who were similarly in costume. But they certainly didn't look like priests; they were wearing short-skirted, sleeveless dresses with a print to make them look like tiger skin. Add in the Oni-horn hair pieces, and their appearance out of the fog gave me goosebumps all over again.
Thankfully, Taniguchi spoiled the illusion by complaining: "Jeez, Tsuruya-sempai! A joke's a joke, but it's cold! Can I have my coat now?"
Tsuruya-sempai opened the bag, which appeared to be full of normal clothes, and pulled out two white hakama and Taniguchi's coat. Meanwhile, Kunikida came over to say hello to Nagato, my brother and me.
"Are we even going to be able to film with all of this fog?" she asked, with a doubtful look on the white wall rising all around us. She gratefully accepted one of the white hakama when Tsuruya-sempai held it out to her, but did not otherwise comment on the temperature. I admire your fortitude, Kunikida.
"At the current rate of expansion, we have approximately an hour before the location chosen is enveloped by vapours," Nagato reported, eyes gazing past Kunikida into the fog. "Your concern is not required."
"Ehh ... You're really good at maths, aren't you, Nagato-san?" Kunikida said, clearly impressed. "Would you maybe like to join a study group some time?"
"Good morning!" a cheerful voice called out of the billowing fog, and Koizumi faded into view. Trailing behind her was a nervous-looking Asahina-san, who was carrying a heavy basket. Koizumi was wrapped in a thick coat, but had her Oni-horn hairband on, just like Taniguchi and Kunikida. And me.
"It was quite an exciting walk today!" Koizumi announced after greeting those of us already gathered at the gate. "For a moment there, I was worried that we might stray off the path and into some alternate universe." She laughed when she said it, and earned herself the mirth of the two idiots, my brother and Tsuruya-sempai.
I didn't feel like laughing. There was something about the fog that gave me an odd feeling. A feeling like ...
"So how are we getting inside?" Taniguchi asked. "Did you get a spare key from one of the teachers, Kyon, or are we supposed to climb inside like burglars?"
"The gate is open," Nagato announced, still gazing into the foggy distance.
And so it was. As usual, I can rely on Nagato to smooth the way where needed. But even while we walked through the silent corridors of North High, I felt it. The sensation of something approaching.
Nothing and no one obstructed our way to the old shack's roof, where Nagato set up his drum and Koizumi and Tsuruya-sempai unloaded the rest of the props. We needed a little time to draw a series of circles and other figures on the roof with chalk.
Asahina-sempai stood by and fidgeted during this, and he opened his mouth when Nagato and Koizumi placed the candles and an incense burner on the right spots. But in the end, he remained silent.
My brother changed into his costume behind the door to the stairs, and nearly knocked over one of the candles when he came charging out. He looked every inch the little Oni; he had the tiger print (forgive me; it is impossible to get real skin from an endangered species in the shops nowadays) loincloth, he had the staff that looked so chillingly like Makuro's, he was even wearing a white mask that was a dead ringer for hers, as well as the headband.
I complimented him, begged him not to knock anything else over and went to change as well.
"Alright, miss ultra director!" Tsuruya-sempai reported once the candles and the incense were all burning. "We're ready over here." He gestured at the boom-box Koizumi had brought. "Music on standby. Shall we begin?"
"One thing," I said, raising my hands to call for a silence that was not really needed. "The weather doesn't seem to be getting any better," I said, "so we have to do our very best to get this right the first try. Masks?"
Koizumi presented the items requested; three black masks for her, Taniguchi and Kunikida, one white mask for me, a golden, sun-shaped mask for Tsuruya-sempai.
"Camera?" I asked. Koizumi gestured to a camera on a standard, which did not contain any film, but was running anyway. I had insisted on this, when Koizumi and I had a chance to talk alone. When this was all over, I did not want there to be any evidence of what was going to happen on this rooftop.
"Alright," I said. "Positions, everyone. We begin in ten ... nine ... eight ..."
Everyone started to move. And the eerie sensation of Closed Space sliced through me like a knife; when I glanced at the fog, I almost imagined I could see leering faces in its whorls. The show was on, and it seemed our audience had arrived.