"Report, what's going on over there?!"

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"I can't...something's wrong, the energy's accumulating too fast! We can't contain it!"

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"Safeguards one through fourteen are down! Even the storage container's starting to approach its limit!"

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"Hurry, just cut the connection! We can't let an overflow happen!"

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"It's not responding, the process is continuing on its own! Emergency evacuation, now! We need to get out of he-"

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"What...What the hell is that?"

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---

With a raised eyebrow, a steel-faced young girl looked out over the gathered individuals. Frankly, the sheer number of people who had elected to come to this first meeting was...surprising. She had expected no more than three or four prospective members.

Maybe the promise of free snacks was that enticing? She'd have to note this for later...

After checking the clock mounted on the classroom wall to confirm the time, the young girl walked over to the propped-open classroom door and slammed it shut with a resounding thud, subsequently clearing her throat firmly to disrupt the chatter of those inside of the classroom as she walked up towards the board at the front of the classroom, where a teacher would be standing during a lecture. Once everyone had quieted themselves, she spoke.

"Good afternoon, everyone. For those of you I have not met previously, I am Matsushima Mitsuko. It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the first meeting of the newly-refounded Occult Club. Feel free to take a brownie and a bottle of water, if you're so inclined." She stated, gesturing to a corner table on which a sizable tupperware container of brownies and a case of water bottles sat.

Speaking up in a crisp tone, the girl, Mitsuko, addressed her peers with a straight face, though one might notice the trace of a smile playing across the edges of her lips. She had to admit that she was rather satisfied with this turnout, even if the majority of those here were probably present to make a mockery of her organization.

"Now then, today's meeting agenda is to become acquainted with one another, to discuss preliminary matters pertaining to the occult, and to discuss the theme of this year's Halloween Extravaganza. I will be distributing waivers for those who are interested in that at the end of the meeting."

"Let's begin. Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Name, year, what brought you here. If you'd like to provide a 'fun fact' or something of that ilk, then feel free so long as it doesn't take several minutes to say."

---

"...So the birth of Jesus, the real King of the Jews, caused King Herod who at the time was the current King of Judea and the puppet of Rome, to send out all of his soldiers to kill all the little ones, from newborns to those just around two, in order to stop the one who would end his false reign." Yoshi explained to no one in particular, as she sat on the middlish right side in the front row. "But Joseph had a vision warning him that Herod was trying to kill the Son of God; and so Jo-"

Yoshi paused as Matsushima cleared her throat. Watanabe took a moment to make sure her school bag, a simple thing colored navy blue with white straps, was secured to the back of her chair. With that secured Yoshi took a moment to move her Bible to match the top edges against the edge of the table.

Clasping her hands together, Watanabe leaned in a little as Mitsuko began to explain what she wanted from the club and today's order of business. So far there appeared to be no signs of abhorrent heresies or devil worshipping; but Yoshi would need to keep a keen eye on the situation before the grasp of Satan would threaten these countrymen away from the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When the time came for introductions to be delivered, Watanabe proceeded to push her chair back and frolicked towards the board. She took a writing implement and wrote her name on the board.

"Hello, for those who might not know me from perhaps the Swimming or Drama Clubs, I am Watanabe Yoshi. I am pleased to learn to know you all and to introduce myself to you." the girl said while delivering a deep bow. She held the position for a few seconds before eagerly springing back to an erect position. She placed her left hand on her hip as she began to continue with her introduction.

"I am a second year here at Yurei High. Aaaand I am here to make sure this club doesn't devolve from good and wholesome fun to demon worshipping. You don't want to be banished to the horrid region of Hell." Watanabe emphasized with a clap and rested her palmed hands against her right cheek. She took a moment to look at the assorted students just to make sure none of them were already corrupted demon worshippers. So far so good, so she continued.

"Oh and a fun fact; At least seven of Our Lord Christ's disciples were fisherman." with that said Yoshi gave another small bow before turning around and grabbing an eraser. She erased her name from the board, taking a moment or two to make sure it was fully erased before frolicking back to her seat and sitting down once more.

Zane was sat in the corner of the room, reading a book about the history of demons among western culture. Hearing the nattering of the heavily Christian girl, and began to think about how non-unique Jesus actually was.
After all, the first story in the world was about a demigod, and the majority of the Greek pantheon was about the children of the gods. If you compare some of their feats, it was insane to think that some preacher could become the figurehead for the largest religion in the world?
"Bunch of nonsense..." He said, unaware he had spoken aloud. Looking up, he saw the Christian girl had just finished speaking. Yoshi, her name was. Standing up, he walked over to the board, and wrote his name. Turning around, his nervous gaze looked more like an angry glare. Coughing, he began.
"I'm Zane. Zane Wulf. I'm a second year, and a student of the Wulf Dojo. For a fun fact... the word Demon in English comes from the Greek word for God, or Genius. Perhaps the word was corrupted by the Christians as a way of demeaning pagan religions of Europe."
After saying this, he rubbed his name off and walked back to his seat.

Ai was already beginning to regret this decision.

From the moment she took a seat next to two girls she never bothered to learn the names of - including one that was currently rattling off Bible quotes of all things (this was Occult Club, for god's sake...no pun intended) - she had been quietly observing everyone in the room. Thinking. Judging.

Well, let's see.

Obnoxious. Stupid. Loud. Promiscuous. Haughty. They didn't need to state their business. It was written all over their faces, all over their ridiculous clothing choices. Humph.

Ai's body language conveyed plenty about her attitude: legs spread slightly in an almost masculine fashion, one arm hooked over back of her chair, glasses low on her face so that her squinted eyes passed coldly person-to-person. It was as though she had a giant sign over her reading don't talk to me, I don't really want to be here.

Of course, she had already visited the refreshments table. A paper plate was balanced in her lap, two brownies stacked on top of one another, one partially bitten into. A water bottle rested on the floor next to her, further extending the "territory" she was taking up in the room; the cap was off, and the whole thing was dangerously liable to spill.

Some time after the mindless chatter filling up the room reached its peak, Ai's gaze followed a young girl walking up to the classroom's board. Ai thought her to be quite beautiful, if she were to admit it - and the way she carried herself was indicative of confidence. Ai took a liking to her immediately.

The girl spoke for a bit, and- oh, god. Introductions. Nice. Ai folded one leg over the other, her free hand coming to rest on her knee. This ought to be interesting.

...Especially since Bible Babble girl took it upon herself to skip her way to the board. Ai twitched slightly as the girl's chair scraped against the floor. But if nothing else she was going to at least try to give her the benefit of the doubt. Even if the girl-Yoshi-was just so concerned about devil worshippers in Occult club.

The next to speak was a boy, who gave a relatively quick introduction before taking a seat once more. Zane, was it? Skeptic type. Alright, maybe there were some sane people here.

Slowly, making her movements obvious to convey to the others that she was about to go next, Ai set down her plate of brownies and stood. As she walked to take her place at the board, figuring that it would be for the best to get it over with, her movements were stiff, almost awkward. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if other judged her with the intensity she judged others - what did her walk say about her? Her clothes? Her voice?

"Greetings. My name is Yamauchi Ai. I am a first year at Yurei High," she began, voice medium-toned and steady - if a bit robotic, "I joined because the name was interesting."

She paused, scanning over her audience. With no one obviously offended (meaning that she hadn't had a chair thrown at her yet), she finished up with, "As a fun fact, I am allergic to cats."

And just like that, she was finished, step-step-stepping back to her seat without any obvious flourish and placing the plate of brownies back in her lap.

---

Yuki rubbed her hands together as she let out a deep breath. Today was the day wasn't it? Ah she was so excited. She also heard that Iria was participating so that was a bonus. She really couldn't wait! This would be the very first club she would actually join that was not forced upon her because she "needed to join a club as it is mandatory". Okay, maybe she was kind of forced but that didn't really matter. She liked the idea of delving into the occult. It was a subject she always found interesting - and that was saying something.

Once the bell rang that signaled the end of the day for classes, her immediate course of action was to go to wait for Iria outside. Some students from the basketball team invited her to a practice match later on but she quickly turned them down. This was way more important than some practice match... but the offer was enticing. She bid them farewell once they had to get moving.

Once Iria arrived, she began moving along with her towards the clubroom. It was a floor below them as it was apparently based on the second year's floor. "I have a feeling that this club will be extremely fun." She shared with a grin. Not even long after that, they were already near the clubroom. She opened the door and quietly slid in...

Just in time to hear someone talking about Jesus. One step into the occult club and she's already hearing something about religion. She looked at Iria and gave a little shrug. She quickly locked onto a seat and practically sped walk there as to not disturb the... er, discussion. Upon staring at the woman for an extended amount of time, she was finally able to pinpoint her as Yoshi, that girl from the Swimming Club.

Then someone walked in - one she recognized as the club president. Yuki made herself comfortable on her seat, both arms on the table and she was leaning forward, eager to hear what she would say. She never did catch her name before. Mitsuko huh? She remembered how shocked she was to see that the president of the occult club was so... well, she didn't match what the rumors say.

The next one to stand was Yoshi. Wow, she was a real devout Christian wasn't she? Next one was a male, Zane Wulf. The name was oddly familiar. Oh, he was that guy that turned down the Kendo club with a glare! Never expected he'd come to this type of club. Next up was this girl who was quite stiff in her movements. Probably a freshman, she hasn't seen her face as much before. Yamauchi Ai... probably best to start calling her by her last name. She didn't seem to be the type to go along with first name basis immediately.

Seeing as no one was standing up yet, she quickly stood up and made her way to the board. She wrote her name on the board - wow, this brings her back to first day introductions. Once done, she turned around and gave them a smile as she started to introduce herself.

"If you've frequented some athletic clubs, you've probably already heard of me. My name's Asahiro Yuki, pleased to meet you all." She placed on hand on her chest as she bowed - force of habit really. She then went back to her original posture.

"I'm a third year and I joined this club because..." She trailed off, momentarily gazing at the president before looking back at the others. "Well it seemed interesting and it was something new to do. As for a fun fact... well, I love all kinds of animals." She shrugged at the last statement, erased her name, grabbed a brownie and a water bottle and headed back to her chair.

Sitting in the most secluded seat possible in the room, Travis, sat leaned back in his chair having a one sided starring contest with the ceiling as he listened to music. It was obvious that he was beating the ceiling because the ceiling had no eyes so how could it even win. Anyways Travis was enjoying his brownie which went perfectly with the water. He was actually happy he finally decided to join a club. Which was funny because the song that was playing at the moment was, "I Hate Everythig About You" by Three Days Grace. The song didn't quite fit his mood but hell he still enjoyed himself.

Once the good song came to an end someone had made their way to the board and began to speak. Travis wasn't that disrespectful so he turned his music down but not off. He watched carefully​ as the girl introduced herself and mentioned that everyone will be introducing themselves. Travis didn't stare as much to avoid being titled as a pervert but he knew without a doubt that Mitsuko will he an interesting character.

Speaking of interesting characters the next student to stand near the board and introduce themselves was this Yoshi girl. Travis wanted to join for supernatural happy fun time not borderline lunatic ranting sessions. Travis is fund of Jesus(the Hispanic pronunciation) but he could tell that Yoshi was one of those...intense type of people. Travis couldn't help but to turn down his music the more Yoshi spoke. The last thing he needed was for her to hear his music and suspect him of devil worshiping. Travis made sure to keep an eye out on her. She could cause many problems for him and his love for his choice of music.

Next to introduce themselves was Zane Wulf and he seemed to have made a comment aimed at the nun who took the stand before him. It wasn't until Zane sat down that Travis started to pay more attention to the boy:girl ratio of the room. It was a bit obvious that there were more females than males but for now that didn't bother Travis. He had more potential "friends" to listen to. Maybe another nut job will take the board or maybe a Loli dictator.

Travis wasn't sure about the dictator part but surprisingly a potential Loli took the board. She had that cyborg type of feel the way she spoke too. To top it all off her name was Ai, which would of been a perfect pun for A.I.(Artificial intelligence). Ignoring the hungry manga author part of his mind Travis concluded that this girl would be a good friend if he doesn't scare her away.

After the Loli was I shit you not the popular sport type girl from a dating sim. Travis of course heard of Yuki but there's no point in mentioning​ that aloud. Again he's trying to stray from the path of being called a pervert and saying that could probably level him up to a stalker. All and all she seemed like a nice girl and like Zane and Ai a possible friend.

Seeing as no one was stepping over each other to get to the board Travis stood from his seat slowly and made his way to the board. Once he reached the board he wrote his name and turned to everyone bowing before he spoke. "Nice to meet...you all. My name is Furukawa, Travis." Travis spoke with his voice instantly giving off an unenthused tone. "I hope to get more acquainted with you all..." He scratched his neck and gave a low and uneasy chuckle. "I guess a fun fact would be that I like metal and rock music.... Travis shook his head as he walked back to his seat. He knew he sucked at conversations and knew he sorta blew his intro.

A redhead sat towards the center of the room, clicking her pen as she silently observed the rest of the people in the room. Well, the room was more crowded then she thought it was going to be, that was for sure. She was certain half of these people were here for the free snacks. That was part of the reason she was here, at least. She could never say no to free food being offered. That, and to get some juicy gossip and stories from this so called 'Occult Club'. She had high hopes for this club and its president as a source of good material for her blog. People ate ghost stories up like little kids ate candy at Halloween.

Of course, she was also interested in what exactly the president was planning for the club. Fake hauntings? Setting up some silly ghost or something to jump out at them? Or maybe it was going to be something more mundane like drawing magic circles or some other silly stuff. If it was something like that the entire time, she wasn't sure she'd stick around. Well, aside from writing a little blurb in her blog about a local crazy students try to summon a demon.

Heh~

That'd be an interesting little piece for sure. She could probably come back every so often and continue to write stuff like that. That is, if the club president didn't kick her out, of course.

Speaking of their new oh-so-glorious (and also quite adorable and cute looking leader if she did say so herself), she was currently standing at the front of the room. She couldn't tell what she was thinking at all. Matsushima Mitsuko. A bit of an ice-queen, if her research was correct. From the look of her, you wouldn't think her to be one that believed in little ghost stories and fairy tails. Appearances could be deceiving, though, and expert ninja of journalism like her knew that better than everyone~

Ah, prez was speaking now, wasn't she?

"Good afternoon, everyone. For those of you I have not met previously, I am Matsushima Mitsuko. It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the first meeting of the newly-refounded Occult Club. Feel free to take a brownie and a bottle of water, if you're so inclined."

Already happened, boss lady. Brownie and bottle of water had already been apprehended and eaten!

"Now then, today's meeting agenda is to become acquainted with one another, to discuss preliminary matters pertaining to the occult, and to discuss the theme of this year's Halloween Extravaganza. I will be distributing waivers for those who are interested in that at the end of the meeting. Let's begin. Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Name, year, what brought you here. If you'd like to provide a 'fun fact' or something of that ilk, then feel free so long as it doesn't take several minutes to say."

Hmm~

Juicy. Halloween extravaganza? They were going to have some sort of thing to do with that? Well, Seiko was definitely interested, but for now she simply listened to the other students introduce themselves.

Watanabe Yoshi. Oh, wow, Seiko had not expected her to be here! The religious nutjob was an odd sight to see. Now why could she be here? She said she was here to stop the club from consorting with demons.

but.

What if.

she was already doing it herself? Oho, plot twist! Now that would be a good story.

Next up, some taciturn fellow by the name of Zane. Yawn, boring. Maybe had a few juicy tidbits she could wrestle out of him later with a bit of...charm, heh. A delinquent if memory served. They always made for fun blog material.

Yamauchi Ai was up next...who, exactly? Huh. It was odd for Seiko not to have not much information on someone. Well, she'd have to rectify that, wouldn't she?

And she was followed by Asashiri Yuki. Quite an interesting case (Also adorable, in Seiko's expert opinion on adorableness). Seiko was quite well aware of her work and may or may not have some rather risque pictures of her (Don't ask). Either way, Seiko was definitely interested in getting to know this Yuki a bit better at some point.

And lastly, was some sleepy fellow by the name of Furukawa, Travis. Another person she had fairly limited information on. Hmm, she'd have to do some more digging after today, wouldn't she?

She'd also waited long enough to introduce herself! Though she didn't think she had to be introduced to everyone. If they didn't know her, then they must have been living under a rock for the entirety of her high-school career. After Travis introduced himself, Seiko stood up and walked over to the board, digital camera hanging from her neck and pencil in hand. With a rather elegant and exaggerated flourish, Seiko wrote her name on the board in big, cursive English letters.

"Seiko Karuta, at your service!" She introduced herself. "Yurei high's resident journalist, blogger, and writer of stories at your service! If you don't know me, then find me after the club's over with," She said with a fairly suggestive giggle. "We can get much better acquainted and you can tell me all about yourself and any dirty little secrets you have!~"

Translation: You'd be interrogated until Sei was bored of you.

"Now, why'd I join the club? Well, obviously, because I thought it'd be fun!"

Translation: She was here to mess with everyone, prez included.

"As for a fun fact? Hrm...now that's a difficult one. I'd say...it's that I don't believe in ghosts and supernatural smoke and mirrors one bit." With that taunt towards the president said, Seiko returned back to her seat and munched happily on another brownie. Damn it, these were delicious. Her pencil and note pad was sitting on her desk, already seemingly filled with a few notes the redhead had taken during the course of everyone elses' introduction.

---

This was the day! Ena was practically flying out of her seat by the time the bell rang, excited for the first time about joining a club. Well, every other time she remembered she tried to join any club she was about to either transfer or her father never gave her the time to do so. Either way with Ena finally living alone and able to stay for more than a grade at any school, she was finally free to do the things she wished to do. For this and this alone, Ena had the right to be excited. The only other thing would be that the new Occult club was meeting today. She would finally be able to look into those weird ghost stories she heard, though it was too late for all of the schools she once visited. That was too bad, but she was over it by now.

Before entering the classroom Ena suddenly had a slight fear in her. What if the people inside did not like her? What if they did not even speak to her at all? What if they made fun of her because she was a brat or because she was shy? The thoughts crossed her mind, but she shook them away. No, she could not give this up just yet, not while she did not know what would happen! With a deep breath, Ena entered the classroom.

The first thing that Ena noticed were the people, but shortly after she spied the tupperware container filled with the goodies that were promised. Ena was hungry and therefore before it was even mentioned Ena opened the container and took a plate of brownies and a bottle of water. Even better, she took another bottle of water and stuffed it into the military bag that she always carried around. Being a gift from her father, Ena always liked to use the vast amount of space that it can carry objects with and free items were always something to take! Even so, Ena then quietly took a seat happily munching on a brownie while effectively in her own little world, ignoring the rest for the short term. If Ena wasn't eating, she would be nervous!

When the Occult club president closed the door this got Ena's attention, though only slightly. Ena instead wanted to keep munching on the brownie as the president spoke. It was true that she did not catch all of the words that the president said but she did catch that her name was Matsushima Mitsuko, and she caught most of the important information, such as introductions! Ena's facial expression came to be like a deer caught in the spotlight. Luckily, she found a few others at least went before her.

First there was a..Christian girl? Watanabe Yoshi was what Ena got out to be her name. Ena never got the Christian faith being a Shinto worshipper, however she figured to each their own. Still, it was weird how she scanned them all.

The second was, from what she gathered, some kind of martial artist, Zane Wulf. Ena knew a lot of techniques thanks to her father, but not much on weaponry unless if it had to do with small knives and disarm. But the guy seemed to say something that would make the Christian girl mad, so Ena thought that was a jerk move even if she was annoying background noise.

The next, Yamauchi Ai, very well dressed but the aura that Ena got from her was disturbing and so Ena did not want to interact with her much, at least initially. That and never let Ryo-san near her.

Asahiro Yuki... what were they? They looked like they could fit into both genders. Ena will have to ask about that later, being too curious to let this go away from her mind.

Furukawa Travis, well he was....interesting to say the least, though Ena did not share his interests. Ena has seen worse, though there was certainly not much attraction for him either if at all. He might make a decent friend.

Finally there was Seiko Karuta. By the way she acted, Ena's own experience on the receiving end school newspaper groups and how Ena has seen her father angry over the press, she was undoubtably part of the news of the school and a flirt. If thinking in the terms of her father, caution will be advised around her. Perhaps Ena will stay under the radar.

By the time Seiko left the stand there were not many left and Ena had gathered the courage to stand up and head over to the board. She knew what she was going to say, but the problem was putting them into practice. When she reached the front Ena faced everyone and took a deep breath, calming herself and just saying what she wanted to say. Ena's hands were clasped in front of her as she spoke. "Umm....I...I am Watari Ena. A...first year. I...I want to make friends and investigate those strange ghost stories and....my dad is in the JSDF." She nervously said before returning to her seat with a sigh of relief. She finally said something to these people. She just hoped it was enough. The fun fact was the first thing that popped into her mind, but she only just realized that Ms. Reporter could in fact use that. She just hoped she didn't get any ideas.

Aika Aramachi

It was hardly an uncommon sight to see a high school student half-absorbed in their phones. However, seated furthest back, keenly watching to ensure not a single person glimpsed over her shoulder, Aika was not using her phone to simply send text messages or casually browse the internet. Instead, she was making notes on her super secret compilation of observations. While included in these observations were plenty of mundane facts, alongside them were also theories. One look at these theories would probably make someone believe that Aika was insane, and they wouldn't be completely incorrect. Aika was busily creating absurdly fantastic theories about the people here as they spoke. Naturally, she started with the club president.

Theory: Two ideas; either the prez is a concerned citizen (boring!), or part of a government scheme to dissuade people from investigating the supernatural. Everyone with a brain knows the government suppresses the existence of aliens, espers, and other creatures. It would make sense they would place people in high schools to lead "occult clubs" to make sure nobody engages in actual investigations of the occult. It could be that the prez will lead us on a bunch of extremely boring activities to make us think this is a really dull idea.

Mitsuko then told them to start introducing themselves. Seemingly a typical way to start a social activity....or a cunning method of extracting information about those interested in the occult. She could be looking for the best way to turn them off of investigating further. In any case, the first one to speak was one Yoshi Watanabe. Aika had already heard talk of the Christian girl from others, and she already had some ideas about her swirling around in her head.

Theory: This one's easy; Watanabe is clearly a Jesuit inserted into the Japanese school system in order to indoctrinate students into the Catholic faith. It's obvious that the Christians never gave up on converting Japan, even after the Sakoku, so it makes sense they would send their infiltrators into the country. Subtly, of course, since they don't want to risk another Sakoku period. All this stuff about "Protestants" and the rest is just a ploy to make people think they're not involved in a united effort to convert and control the world.

Note to self; fishermen may in fact be Christian agents.

When she sat down, the next to speak was Zane Wulf. He had some rather confrontational things to say regarding Watanabe's words. Naturally, this got Aika thinking.

Theory: Zane Wulf must be a counter-Christian agent from the New Atheist movement. Everyone knows the Christians are engaged in a constant war with the non-believers, especially in the United States. Wulf must have been sent here to fight the influence of Jesuit preachers like Watanabe, hence his hostility to her faith.

What I don't get is why they gave him such an odd infiltration name. Who would believe that the name "Zane Wulf" belonged to a Japanese native? He has to be an American.

After Zane was Ai Yamauchi.

Theory: I got nothing. Hasn't said enough to give me an idea of who she is, and she's too new to stir up rumors already. Maybe she's just a bystander? Probably not though.

Then there was Yuki Asahiro. As she had stated herself, Aika had heard about her after joining the track team. She was a bit of an athletic celebrity at the school, or so it would seem.

Theory: I've always considered that androgynous people might be the results of government experimentation to blur gender lines and undermine traditional society. Perhaps Asahiro was released into the public to see just what they could get away with using androgynous agents? Only time will tell.

Travis Furukawa spoke next. He seemed like an awkward soul right off the bat.

Theory: Not sure about this one either. Since he clearly has American heritage, he could be working with Wulf, but that would just be guessing. Although, if I had to peg anyone here for being an actual demon worshiper, it would be this guy.

As for Seiko Karuta, Aika was sure she had felt her gaze on her at least once during the meeting. She was already suspicious of her...more suspicious than usual, at least.

Theory: If this club is legit, then maybe Karuta here is a government investigator sent to look into seditious activities among the student body. Obviously if there were real demon summoners at this school, the government wouldn't want them pulling that off under their noses. After all, they probably have a monopoly demon summoning as is. Alternatively, she could be working with the prez to root out the people actually interested in the occult. Her claims to skepticism are almost certainly a false front.

Aika's interest was piqued by the mention of the JSDF by Ena Watari, the next one to speak. Although she seemed all nervous and unsure, Aika was convinced the opposite was true.

Theory: A JSDF soldier would no doubt train their children well, so no doubt the shy act is a cover for her keen military trained senses. If this is a government ploy, I have no doubt that Watari is involved in it. Even if not, she'll surely report any seditious activities to her JSDF father. I should demonstrate extreme caution around her, as she might be the most dangerous person here.

It occurred to Aika at this point that she had been silent for some time, simply sitting at the back tapping away at her phone. She was sure the others would be getting suspicious of her by now, so she took the opportunity to be the next to speak. Any hint of focus and observation on her face would certainly be gone; replaced by the vapid look of a silly little high school girl. "Hey everyone! Aika Aramachi, first year here! I just joined because I thought it would be, like, a fun little activity. A fun fact from me is that I own, like, 100 pairs of shoes." She then sat down calmly. She was sure she had nailed it; nobody would suspect the vain schoolgirl with more clothes than sense! Of course, Aika didn't appreciate just how true that was.

"Ah, today is the first meeting of the occult club, isn't it? I should fetch Yuki first before going there," so Iria thought as the bell signifying the end of class rang.

"And she should be there too..."

The "she" Iria referred to was none other than the (in)famous school news writer and photographer, Seiko Karuta. Originally, Iria only knew her the same way most of the students at the school knew her, that is, as the nosy, scoop-hunting redhead. But after what their meeting that one day, she now truly knew just how ruthless the girl could be.

"Really, it's not like I didn't have any interest in joining the club in the first place... There's no need for her to do that..."

She hadn't told anyone about this, not even her close friend Yuki. It was simply too embarrassing...

Outside her classroom, Yuki already waited for her with her usual cheerful grin on her face. Iria smiled back. At least she would have Yuki to accompany her in the club.

"Ah, Yuki. Apologies for making you wait. A girl in my class asked me to lend my notes to her, so I have to wait until she finished copying it," she said to her.

The two then headed straight to the clubroom right away, with Yuki cheerfully saying that she felt the club would be fun.

"I sure hope so..." was the only way Iria could reply. She was indeed somewhat interested in the occult, but if the club wouldn't actually encounter actual occult or paranormal stuff, she imagined she would tire of it. And she wasn't sure if that girl would just let her go if that happened...

When they entered the clubroom, they were immediately greeted with a girl saying stuff about Jesus. Iria could only awkwardly smile back at Yuki's shrug, not really sure how to respond. She decided to follow Yuki's example and hurried on to their seats. Iria recognized the girl as well, since she was also somewhat infamous for the very thing she was doing right now.

A girl then walked in after they had been seated. So she was the Club President, Iria thought. She seemed nice and excitable enough. She wondered if she was in the whole blackmailing thing or was it just the nosy journalist's doing? She told the room to introduce themselves one by one, and the one who stood up first was the Christian girl. Once again, Iria could only smile awkwardly at her speech. After her, a guy named Zane Wulf. He seemed to be annoyed by Yoshi's preaching. She just hoped she wouldn't be dragged into their conflict.

After that, the one making her introduction was a freshman named Yamauchi Ai. She seemed like the serious type. Perhaps she was really serious about this occult stuff.

After her, Yuki decided to go forward. Nothing to say to her introduction as Iria already knew about her. Like she had said to her before, she joined the club just because she thought it would be fun. At that time, Iria replied with the same thing, hiding the fact that she had been blackmailed to join.

The next one was another boy named Furukawa Travis. Seemed like the laidback kind of guy. Probably joined the club because he thought it would be interesting. It didn't surprise her that most of the people here joined just because they were merely slightly interested in the occult. It wasn't exactly the most popular hobby after all.

After him, her.

As she cheerfully made her entrance in front of everyone, Iria glared at her with her reddening cheeks puffed. She was the main reason why she was here now. She could not afford to get those pictures released to everyone at the school. She would have to transfer to another school out of embarrassment if that ever happened, and she wanted to study here since this was her last year at the school. It would be terribly bothersome to move with just how many months before the final exams. And Yuki was here too so the more reason why she couldn't afford to move away.

"This girl... she has no conscience at all..." she thought to herself as Seiko cheerfully told everyone her name. She even outright said that she wanted everyone's dirty little secrets. And she also said that she didn't believe in the supernatural, so she would be here no doubt to debunk whatever paranormal activities the club would experience.

After her, the next one was a girl named Ena Watari. She seemed to be the shy type, Iria thought. With a smile, Iria swore that she would make sure that no one would tease her, especially Seiko.

The next one was another girl named Aika Aramachi. She seemed to be a fashion-conscious girl, perhaps a bit on the dimwitted side (no offense intended). Iria had no idea at all that it was all just an act by her.

"I suppose it's my turn now..." Iria said to herself once she noticed that no one else was going forward.

Standing up, she walked calmly and elegantly to the front of the classroom; her hands staying in front of her skirt like a good girl. She turned around slowly, not wanting to put a swish into her skirt's hem.

"Greetings everyone. My name is Iria Valentine, third-year. I joined this club because I wanted to see with my own eyes whether or not the supernatural truly exists or not. And as for my fun fact, I am quite good at chess. Pleased to meet you all."

Iria said her introduction with her trademark calm smile. She didn't really lie per say. She was indeed interested in the supernatural. And there was no way she was going to tell a "juicy" fun fact as Seiko would certainly run with it.

After finishing her introductions, she returned back to her seat, not before taking her bottle of water and brownie of course. She sipped the water first as she felt a little bit thirsty after that little talking.

@Three@Pleek@Ryteb Pymeroce@ZeroCuero@Polaris North@Slendy@Rune_Alchemist@Bushman501@Mercurial

While she was back at her seat Watanabe took a brief moment to readjust the position of her Bible on the table moving it more towards the center. Shortly thereafter Watanabe checked to see if her school bag was still strapped soundly to the chair, which it was. Of course these two actions fortunately or unfortunately caused Yoshi some distraction as all she really caught from Wulf's speech was 'pagan religion" before he headed back to the 'Corner of Pensive Prayers'. Presumably the boy said a fun fact about their devious ways. So Yoshi made sure this time to pay closer attention to the rest.

As many introductions were finished; Yoshi knew she had many interactions to go through. Scooting her chair back, Yoshi then swiveled on the seat so she faced Yamauchi directly.

"Hello!" Yoshi chirped up as she leaned a bit closer to Yamauchi Ai. "First year huh? Made any friends yet? Staying out of trouble? Heard the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ? Enjoying those brownies? How's the family? Have any hobbies? Think anyone here looks cute?" were the questions she rapid fired off towards Ai.

Yoshi blinked and tilted her head slightly, "But you probably want to ask something about me don't you? Feel free to ask!"

Each introduction that went by gave Ai the information she needed to assess her fellow club members further.

Yuki: Unassuming but sporty...girl? Hm. Their voice, their dress, their appearance - it could really go either way. Well, they seemed nice enough. Potential ally, giving that they didn't buy into the occult bullshit too much.

Travis: One of those "musical types". To be avoided.

Seiko: ...she screamed trouble, and yet there was something oddly alluring about that girl. A fellow skeptic, too. No reason to be too leery of such a..."colorful" character.

Ena: Pathetically shy. Potentially useful military connections. Keep relations neutral if possible.

Aika: At first glance, another phone-obsessed sheep - but there was a certain observational quality to her actions that Ai could appreciate. No way was she buying that vapid plain girl routine.

Iria: Nothing of note. Another person to keep neutral.

Final conclusion: Everyone in this room seemed to be mostly harmless. Ai felt that if she chose the right words, maybe she could start building herself a decent reputation in this school. Who knows the kind of following she could have by third year if she did so?

Wait. Someone was talking.

And they happened to catch Ai mid-bite. Blushing, she slowly sat down the brownie chunk (she had somehow eaten the other one and most of this one without even realizing it) and turned to face the source of the voice - oh. Watanabe Yoshi.

Okay. Keep calm. Even as she started firing off question after question in that peppy little voice of hers.

Ai set down the plate once more so that she could rest her hands in her lap, setting both legs down on the floor so as to make herself seem less confrontational. She flashed a small corner-mouthed smile, leaning her own body forward as she spoke in a loosened tone: "Hello. I...can't say I've made many friends here yet. I don't mind. I prefer to stick around those I can...connect with, if you understand. I'll be happy to tell you that I've yet to run into any trouble with the school. The brownies are rather dry, but I'm still eating them."

She laughed, and reached out with one hand to grasp briefly at Yoshi's shoulder. She'd read somewhere that being the first to initiate physical contact not only asserted dominance in a conversation but gave off a trusting aura. Debatable, but worth a try.

"But surely I don't have enough knowledge of this school to make a judgement on anyone here. A better question is, do you know if there's anyone here to..." She leaned in just a bit further, jokingly conspiratorial. "Watch out for?"

"Well," Watanabe Yoshi started up as she also wrapped her arm around Yamauchi's shoulder and also leaned inwards to Ai. She spoke in but a hushed and solemn tone, "You must watch out for the machinations of the Devil; for he will try to lead you astray from the Light of The Lord."

"But as long as you allow the Love of Christ to inhabit your heart you will not fall into the clutches of Satan." Yoshi glanced at Ai for a moment before she gestured at her own mouth. "Oh! Oh, speaking of those brownies I think you have some stuck in your teeth." Watanabe showed off her teeth and tapped at the left canine and first premolar tooth.

After performing this gesture for a few moments Yoshi stopped. "Speaking of teeth, did I have anything stuck in there? Because it seemed like Asahiro was staring at me for a looooooooooooooong time just earlier. Maybe a miscellaneous string on the clothes? Feather in the hair? Honestly I'm not su-" Watanabe shook her head as she clapped.

She pointed her palmed together hands at Ai, "Oh yeah. You probably wanted to know if you had to watch out for others other than Satan."
Yoshi briefly looked around the room before shaking her head, "Nope! You're good. The only thing I'd say you need to watch out for is a very, very, very long list if you want to try to get an opinion piece in the school paper. For some reason I still haven't been able to get a piece about the importance of Easter..."

Yoshi shrugged, "What can you do?" Watanabe Yoshi snapped her fingers together as gestured her head to glance at her bag and Bible. "Could you just watch my stuff for a bit?"

With that Yoshi got up from her seat and swayed back towards Travis Fukuwara. She offered a small wave before placing her left hand on her hip. A smile was on her face as she spoke to him, "So you said you like metal and rock huh?" Yoshi balled her left hand into a fist and pulled it towards herself. "Enough people don't seem to understand the Heavenly Metal. You ever jam to Veni Domine or Bloodgood? Great bands with inspirational messages unlike those other bands."

---

The next guy to introduce himself was apparently named Furukawa Travis. Half American? Probably. She has seen this guy around but she never did hear anything about him. Seemed a little awkward but nothing a good talk wouldn't fix.

Next up was Seiko. Oh Seiko. While she wasn't really worried about the certain photos the journalist had, it was still on her mind. The fact that she was present at the bar that one night truly amazed her. Despite Seiko's tendency to put her nose in everyone's business, she gained some respect from Yuki because of how good she is at actually getting information.

The next one was, without a doubt, the cutest little thing she has seen among the first years that she has met. Hearing that she wanted to make friends aside from investigating ghost stories made Yuki smile. What an innocent young lady. She made a mental note to talk to her later.

Only now did she noticed the sound of tapping had ceased as a woman stood up to introduce herself. A seemingly airheaded girl. Looks like someone who appreciates fashion. Maybe the make up topic will make her talk? Hopefully, she'd rather talk with everyone here without a problem.

And then there was Iria. Nothing much to be commented on. She already knew the facts surrounding the princess of the academy. Once she sat down, Yuki leaned towards her. "An interesting group of people don't you think? Lots of potential friends..." Her gaze turned to the reporter. "Seiko's here too. She should make this a lot more interesting." She then scanned the area once more. Yoshi had gotten to talk with Ai and was now going to Travis. She returned her gaze to her friend."So, who do you wanna talk to first? Ena looks like she's a great first choice." Once Iria gets to talk with someone, it should go smoothly.

"An interesting group of people don't you think? Lots of potential friends... Seiko's here too. She should make this a lot more interesting."

"W-well, interesting is certainly one way to put it..." Iria replied. She wondered if Yuki knew that the journalist had been blackmailing her with her... lewd pictures she stealthily took god knows when, would she change her tone? She couldn't feel wholly comfortable being in the club as long as the journalist was still there. Even if she would return her photos to her, she would still be wary of her taking more lewd pictures of her in the future. She had to be careful not to expose herself again in front of her.

"Y-yes, I believe I shall go greet her," Iria said to Yuki's advice. She rose up from her seat and approached the girl. With a kind smile she said, "Greetings, Ena. I'm Iria. I'll be looking forward to be working with you from now on." She said her words as gently and non-threatening as possible, not wanting to make the girl nervous.

@Polaris North@Bushman501

---

Yuki was entirely clueless on just how Seiko affected her friend. She also did not know that they were in the same position - having some less than desirable pictures with Seiko. However, Iria didn't mention anything so she remained blissfully unaware. Once Iria was up and heading towards Ena, she followed close behind.

Quite opposite to Iria's care in tone, Yuki just greeted her with the usual energy she usually gave. "Heya Ena, Yuki here. Pleased to meet 'ya." She then gave her a small bow to show respect. However, it didn't seem like Yuki was intent on joining their conversation as she had her attention on another person in the group.

In one swift motion, she walked towards Aika, unaware of how she was spinning theories about all of them. If she's going to start befriending people, she'll have to start with a person she would have trouble getting to know. "Yo Aika. Asahiro Yuki, pleased to meet you. Thought you might have missed my name since you looked so intent on whatever you were doing on your phone." She said while pointing at the mobile device. After that, however, she opened her palm and was now asking for a shake. "What's got you so preoccupied?" Her tone was one of simple curiosity and the question was asked for simple conversation. It wasn't like she was frustrated with her not listening. In fact, she didn't mind at all.

---

While Ena sat down at her seat, she was in a state of hyper-alertness. While the rest went, Ena made a few more observations about the people in here.

First, there was Aramachi Aika. Ena did not know what to think of her, but she seemed friendly enough by what she said, though owning 100 pairs of shoes was kinda of a waste, or at least that is what dad would say.

The next, Valentine Iria, she looked like a princess and carried herself as such. Otherwise, she seemed quite friendly.

Looks could be quite deceiving, but that is what Ena was about to find out in the case Iria and Yuki, as she spied them moving toward her as Ena was busy munching away on the 8th brownie, tracking them with her eyes. Both were taller than her, with Yuki being more so. Ena felt slightly intimidated despite her father's training but her heart told her they were both good people and so Ena held her ground.

Unfortunately when Iria approached her Ena was already in the process of eating her 9th brownie when she heard "Greetings, Ena. I'm Iria. I'll be looking forward to be working with you from now on." In the most gentle voice that Ena has heard while Yuki greeted her with an energetic "Heya Ena, Yuki here. Pleased to meet 'ya." and a bow. Of course, Ena hasn't heard many gentle voices but Ena spoke softly after she finished chewing her food, slightly more confident than she was at the stand,"Uhm...Hi, M-Me too. And...." Gazing across them both, Ena gazed at Yuki's hips in an effort to determine their sex but to no avail. "Uhm..s-sorry but are you a boy or a girl?" Ena directed to Yuki with curiosity speaking up, holding her brownie and wiping her face with a napkin.

Annnnnd she was gone. That was by the time Ena spoke.

@Hammerman@Polaris North

@Bushman501@Hammerman

Seiko nommed quietly on another brownie as others introduced themselves after her.

Watari Ena:
In one word, absolutely adorable and Seiko would like to absolutely get to know her a bit better. The obviously shy girl introduced herself as best she could, poor thing! Seiko sort of just...wanted to give her a hug and maybe to some touching. She went on to mention that her father worked for the JSDF. Huh, curious. Her own father was a police officer. Similar enough occupations! And maybe she could have some juicy insider classified information from her father, heh!

More importantly though, she said she was looking for a friend.

Now, Seiko didn't mean to brag...but she was grade-A friend material. As Ena went back to sit down, Seiko turned her head towards the shy girl, offering her a decidedly friendly yet oddly unsettling smile.

And lastly...her favorite person in the entire room: Iria Valentine
Heh.

Hehhee. As she introduced herself Seiko just gave the other girl a friendly, oblivious smile. Nothing more to say about her, save her favorite color is pink and she has a nice set of legs that Seiko could always appreciate.

Seeing that mostly everyone of interest had introduced themselves, the self-proclaimed journalist finished taking notes, flipping the notebook closed and putting it away in her pocket. Now, she was gonna go say hi to Ena! It seemed Ira and her had similar mindsets, too. Oh heh, this was going to go so well!

"Hey there, Ena!" She said, and unlike Ira's decidedly more muted greeting, her's was much louder. The redhead had practically hopped over to the other girl, closing the distance in almost the blink of an eye. "Oh hey, Iria's here too. How's my favorite pink color loving girl doing?" She flashed Ira an impish grin. "Didn't expect to see you here, heh!" She turned her attention back to Ena with the same grin. "So Ena...your dad works for the JSDF, huh?" She asked, seemingly interested. Coming on too strong in any situation was typically a bad idea at times. There was a proper method to getting to know people, after all, and getting on their good side. "My dad's a retired police officer, ya know." Also, mentioning something that you had perhaps even slightly in common, tended to make people open up a bit to you.

---

When Seiko called Ena's name, Ena visibly jumped. It was made worse by the fact that Seiko closed the distance so quickly. What was she, some kind of athlete?! Is this the power of the press? Is this why her father hated them so much? Still, she was going to have to deal with it either way, Ena seeing no escape from this situation at all. "Oh hey, Iria's here too. How's my favorite pink color loving girl doing?" Pink? What was wrong with pink? What did that have to do with anything? Still, that grin that she shot to Iria was unsettling, though mischievous in the eyes of Ena. Then, the questions started. Oh shinto gods, this was going to be bad! "So Ena...your dad works for the JSDF, huh?" Ena's face only proclaimed itself as taken off-guard as she nodded her head, unsure of what words to say. "My dad's a retired police officer, ya know." Was the next statement that registered in Ena's brain. It was by this time that Ena recovered and her mind switched from her usual self to ward-off-newsgirls. "Oh...cool! Uhmm....are you two friends? You know Iria's favorite color apparently... She countered innocently with her own question and observation before another spat out another hook. That might help her out of this!

@Rune_Alchemist@Hammerman

"Uhm...Hi, M-Me too. And...."

Ena took off her eyes off Iria, looking at Yuki who also had come and greeted her.

"Uhm..s-sorry but are you a boy or a girl?"

But before she could hear her answer, Yuki already strolled off to greet another student. Thus, it fell to Iria's hands to answer her question, as Ena looked at her once more.

"Hmm, I don't know. Some days he can be a boy, the others she can be a girl. It all depends on Yuki's mood. You should ask Yuki yourself if you want further explanations," Iria answered mischievously. She was quite familiar with this question thanks to how her friend looked. So now she just played along, as Yuki loved to tease people with their inability to tell her gender.

Her fun was soon ruined however when a certain reporter joined them. She greeted Ena and her jovially, calling her her favorite pink color loving girl. Iria immediately blushed as she perfectly knew what she meant by that.

"G-greetings to you too, Seiko," she replied, her smile looking terribly forced and strangely menacing at the same time. "I didn't expect you to be here. Don't you have something better to do like hanging on stairs looking upwards for girls to look up too?"

This, of course, referred to one of Iria's naughty pics. It wasn't the only place where her unmentionables got exposed however. Somehow Seiko managed to obtain ten pictures. And she even told her she still got more. She wasn't sure that it was merely a bluff knowing her.

@Bushman501@Rune_Alchemist