The Supernatural Creator

Chapter 5:

Aoi tended the plants, watered them, did everything she usually does when gardening but did not enjoy it. Nene-chan didn't show up and she was concerned. Her friend had been acting weird lately. Was the loss of her sketchpad the cause of this? Or was it because she had fainted the other day?

"Ao-chan!" She turned and saw Akane running towards her, arms wide as if planning to give her a hug. Easily, she stepped aside so he landed face first onto the dirt. Thankfully, there were no plants there. "It's nice to see you too, Akane-kun," she said to him with a smile. "Do you know where Nene-chan is?"

He spat out dirt and looked at her seriously. "You mean she's not here?"

Aoi shook her head. "No. I'm quite concerned, though. This is the first time she didn't attend the club meeting."

He scratched his head, getting to his feet. "Well, that is odd," He regained his "Ao-chan, I love you" face. "Well, I just came here to tell you that it'll take a long time for me to finish doing Council work with the Pres. so you can walk home without me."

"I'll do just that," She smiled at him, putting a hand to her cheek like she usually do. "Thank for letting me know, Akane-kun."

"Oh, and Ao-chan?"

Here we go again, she thought. "Yes, Akane-kun?"

"I love you!" he said, doing his usual bowing pose.

"Mm," Aoi hummed. "Five points."

Akane was surprised and began to "cry". "That was more than last time!" he exclaimed joyfully.

"You do know that's five out of one hundred," Aoi said to him.

"Just let me have it!"

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

"A-Amane-kun!?"

"Surprise!" Amane stood before her. To her surprise, the patch and orbs she had seen yesterday were now present once again.

"But what are you..." Yashiro began to stutter. "How did you...when did you even...ow!" Something fell against her head and landed on the floor. She turned and saw a couple of pink rabbit-like creatures lying on the floor. They looked sort of familiar—gosh, a lot was becoming familiar to her now for some reason—but she couldn't find out why. "What are these?" she asked. She have never seen anything like them before.

"They're called Mokke," Amane told her, looking at them as well as they got up one by one. "But people here call them Yousei-san. They're known for stealing stuff and pulling little pranks. And whenever they feel threatened they gather and turn into what you saw earlier. Normally they aren't aggressive and don't attack humans."

"We never really wanted to kill anyone either," one of them said in an adorable voice that kind of reminded Yashiro of someone.

"But our story's different now. It changed without asking us."

"We never really wanted it this way."

"What story?" Yashiro asked Amane and he replied, "The rumors humans share."

"Apparitions aren't allowed to go against the rumors created about them," he explained. "So even as humans exaggerate and alter the story, apparitions have no choice but to act accordingly. The ones who don't align with their folklore will vanish from this world entirely."

"They'll disappear?" Yashiro said, looking at the Mokke with a pitiful look. One of them had reached into a bag they were carrying, pulling out a piece of candy from it and eating, leaving the wrapping on the floor. Then a thought struck her. She stood abruptly.

"Wait a second!" she exclaimed, looking at Amane with an incredulous look. "Did you say 'apparitions'? They actually exist? I thought that book was only pulling a prank on me!"

"'Book'?" Amane repeated, surprised. "What book?"

"E-eh?" Oh, Nene, what have you done? She thought, panicking. You weren't suppose to mention the book to anyone, let alone Amane-kun even though he saved you! Wait, hold on a sec. He...saved me...?

"A-Amane-kun," she began uncertain and hesitantly.

"Hmm?"

"What..." She raised her hand. "...are..." She pointed at him. "...you?" she finished.

He raised his eyebrows in astonishment and grinned.

"You finally noticed, huh?"

"Huh?"

He shrugged. "Well, I expected as much. Since you found that book..."

"Amane-kun, can you please explain what is going on!?" Yashiro exclaimed, exaggerated. "A lot of weird things has been happening for the past four days. My sketchpad went missing! I fainted because I saw something! I started seeing things! I found this strange book that doesn't want to leave me alone and—"

"Whoa! Calm down," Amane said, grabbing her shoulders to steady for she was trembling as she punctuated every sentence with a stomp of her foot, switching from left to right and left again. "Will you just—"

"What is going on here?" The pair turned and saw Akane walking towards them. He didn't have his glasses on which Yashiro found weird since she normally saw them on.

"Akane-kun!" she exclaimed incredulously, pushing Amane off her. "You're part of this too?" she asked, backing away from them. "I don't believe this! What is going on? This world is turning upside-down. Am I even still alive?"

"Panicking, huh?" Akane asked Amane with a raise of an eyebrow while Yashiro was busy muttering loudly to herself with Amane watching her in amusement and worry. "That's at first," He saw the Mokke who were watching them curiously. "So they're still here, huh?"

"This is a nightmare!" Yashiro finished, punctuating with a small kick but in doing so she slipped and fell to the floor on her butt. "Ow!" she exclaimed. She dropped her bag as well and it slid a feet away from her, spilling some of its contents out including the weird book she found in the library.

The three of them stared at the book in surprise with Yashiro staring at in alarm. This is bad, she thought, slowly averting her gaze to the two boys in front of her. In the meantime the Mokke gathered at the book curiously.

"Is it dangerous?" one asked.

"It must be."

"Let's not touch it."

"What are those weird symbols on it?"

"Yashiro," Yashiro jumped. Akane and Amane were now looking at her.

She chuckled nervously. "Well, you see..."

"Where did you get that book, Yashiro-san?" Akane asked her.

Oh, I'm in trouble, Yashiro thought. "The library," she squeaked. "I...Ao-chan and I went to the library to do our homework. I was then looking for a book that would help me with it when I found this book sticking out. When I pushed it back in that stuck out and when I pulled it back out, that went back in. I-I got curious so I went to check it out and now it won't leave me alone." She took a deep breath and exhaled it in a sigh. She said all that rapidly in one breath that she didn't think Amane and Akane even understood her.

But it seems like they did. Amane then glanced at the book and walked towards it. He crouched down to study it before picking it up and handing it to Yashiro. "What happens if you touch it?" he said.

"H-huh?" Yashiro was confused.

"Just hold it."

She hesitated before standing up and taking the book from him. It gave an eerie glow which Yashiro recognized to be magenta. The title also glowed but in the color red. What was happening?

Amane seemed to know for he looked at Akane and raised his eyebrows. Akane nodded.

"Now will you explain to me what is going on?" Yashiro demanded in a no-nonsense tone.

Amane shrugged. "Well, there's no reason for us to keep it from you anyway.

"Yashiro...you're No. 8 of the Seven Mysteries."