Chapter 3: Hunting Season(ing) Part Two

[mp_npc]

God, was there some planet in retrograde right now? Everything was so…gray. Tome usually would have been able to cite a specific planet but she had been too oddly deflated all day to speculate.

At least she wasn’t the worst one off. No, not by far. That honor went to the pompadour’d thug who did nothing but sulk in the corner of their shared club space now. Her own club mates who were always too scared of him to even approach even tried to offer him one of their honey chip bags out of sheer pity. Tome, usually quite stingy with the resources (especially now they didn’t actually have funding anymore) didn’t even object. ‘How the mighty fall.’

Goda had spent some time trying to cheer Onigawara up. That boy was too nice for his own good. Him AND Kageyama. Tome didn’t know what Goda had been trying, exactly, since she was too engrossed in (or rather numbed by) her video game to listen but she could guess. The Body Improvement Club had one solution for every possible human ailment. It was exactly why she didn’t risk complaining today.

Tome glanced at the clock—it was getting to be that time, wasn’t it? The time where everyone finished their club activities up. Ah. Orwell was calling her name once again.

Comments

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Wow, really?"

[mp_simplyacommoner]

’Is he…surprised?’

“Yeah. But I guess you could say this guy and I still have a good relationship, so I was able to call in a favor.”

Good relationship was an understatement…at least from the other boy’s side.

There, on the roof of the rebuilt Black Vinegar (that they’d made it to in record time with Tome moving like greased lightning), one simple glimpse of Teruki sent a boy bowing so deeply he nearly smacked his dyed hair into the raised bed he had been dutifully tending to.

“SHADOW LEADER! I’m so humbled you’ve visited me this late!”

“Hey, hey, I’m not…you know.” Teruki motioned for him to calm down. “I said I was coming after school today, remember?”

“Yes, but I’m still very humbled!”

Tome gave Mob a look where they stood behind Teruki.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob was utterly unaware of Tome's look as he watched in quiet awe at the respect Teruki was getting from someone who wasn't even his underling anymore. He was really was seriously respected!

[mp_npc]

After regaining his composure, the punkish young man bowed to Teruki’s guests. “Daisuke Nakazawa. Year 3. Vice President of Black Vinegar’s Gardening Club.”

Tome had the decency to bow her head back. “Tome Kurata. Year 3. President of Salt Middle School’s Telepathy Club.”

Daisuke looked to Mob and made a slight face. This kid…looked familiar somehow, even for how plain he was.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Shigeo Kageyama. I'm a second year." He didn't have any important title to speak of.

[mp_npc]

After Mob introduced himself, Daisuke immediately forgot all about it. It didn't matter! His task was to help them in any way possible.

"So." Daisuke dutifully arranged gardener's kneeling pads for them to sit, sitting properly on his knees himself before them. "You wanted to know about the crop circles on my family's farm, right?"

"R-Right." There was a pause before Tome spoke, realizing her position of authority a beat late, and hastily presented him the photo that Teruki gave her. "Yes. The Telepathy Club's primary goal is to activate the powers of the human mind to contact extraterrestrial life. As President, I'm obligated to be at the forefront of any strange phenomena such as this!"

Daisuke nodded sagely. "Well, to tell you the truth...this has been going on on my family's property for the past year or so. It's not just strange marks in the wheat, either...our livestock has been frazzled and there's a really...strange atmosphere that hangs over everything. At first my parents thought it was just weird weather making the livestock restless, but it's gotten even stranger in the past month. More strange marks. Some of our cows even went missing for awhile."

Tome's ears were pricking all the way up at this point, practically ready to vibrate into the sky, and it was all she could do to stay composed and tethered to earth. "Has anything more significant taken place? Strange UFO sightings, even?"

"Actually...now that I think about it... ...nah. Couldn't be..."

"No! Don't second-guess anything...Please, share any information you have!"

"Well...my grams has been saying she's been seeing weird things in the night sky...lights and stuff like that, but...her eyes are bad. So's her health. My parents think she's seeing things."

Tome clutched a first to her chest. Her instincts were clear. She needed to see it with her own eyes at all costs! "Nakazawa...please, allow us to investigate this matter further!"

"You mean, like...visit?" Daisuke thrust out his bottom lip hesitantly. "I mean, you definitely could see it for yourself. It's a big plot of land."

"This certainly has to be troubling for your family, right?"

"I guess. There hasn't been any major damage to their stuff and the cows and goats always return in one piece, but it's hella spooky--"

Tome stood and bowed so quickly she moved like a blur. "Then it would be our pleasure to investigate and assist in this matter! Thank you very much, Nakazawa!"

"Uh. Sure. Yeah. Yeah!" Daisuke bowed back. "Anything for the Shadow Leader's honored guests!"

Teruki's mouth set in a straight line. He wanted to correct Daisuke but he didn't want to disrupt the moment. Instead, he grinned at Mob. They were making great progress!

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob offered Teruki an awkward smile and gave him a thumbs up. (Was that what cool people did? Mob hoped he looked cool.) Tome was clearly happy about this. If Teruki kept making her happy, he was sure that she'd warm up to him soon.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Just bowing apparently wasn't enough for Tome since she was taking both Daisuke's hands in hers and shaking them hard enough to jostle the muscular teen until he was off-balance.

Teruki took the chance to lean in towards Mob again to whisper. "Just look at how happy she is! At this rate you're gonna close the distance with Tome-senpai in no time!"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"What?" Mob managed to push up. "Me and Tome? But --"

[mp_npc]

"Kageyama! Hanazawa! I've researched the bus route on the way here!" Tome thrust the pamphlet out for them to see. "If we hurry we can make the next bus that leaves in 6 minutes, so let's go!"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Isn't this kind of sudden?" Mob promised Reigen he would be there. If they went to the middle of nowhere, there was a good chance he wouldn't even be back before Spirits & Such closed.

[mp_npc]

"It's not sudden at all, Kageyama, don't you see? This is the culmination of years of preparation!" Tome shamelessly hooked her arm around Mob's. "It's simply reconnaissance! I'll be relying on your powerful psychic ability to properly assess the situation!"

"If you all are planning on going, I'd say you should get there and back before night falls. I heard our first monsoon is coming really early this season...after that, who knows what it'll look like out there?" Daisuke stood and gathered the kneeling pads. "It's been a really freaky year..."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob nodded. "Yeah, wouldn't it be better to do it on the weekend? We'll have more time then, too."

[mp_npc]

"What? No, we must do it now! What will happen if a storm comes in before now and Sunday? The weather could wash precious evidence away!" Tome tightened her grip, but her posture had changed from absolute certainty to pleading. "We're just taking one look, Kageyama. Just one look. Please."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Whatever will Mob had quickly broke down with Tome's desperate please.

"Okay," he relented. "We should leave now if we're going to make that bus."

[mp_npc]

Even if Tome didn't say it, the smile that softened her face for just one moment said it all. Thank you.

"Yes. Let's go." Tome bowed to Daisuke one more time and dragged Mob towards the stairwell, glancing at Teru as she passed. "You too, Shadow Leader-kun!"

Teruki rubbed at the back of his head with a heavy sigh. Still, he turned towards his former underling and bowed. "If I could trouble you with another favor...I recently bought a Bird Nest Fern, but...I think it's a bit limp. If I brought it to you, could you show me how to take care of it?"

"O-of course! Anything for you, Shadow Leader. I'll put the skills you allowed me to hone during my time serving you to good use."

"Just Hanazawa will do. Thank you, Nakazawa-senpai."

Daisuke's whole body erupted with a blush as Teruki took off after the other two.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

This place was... definitely the middle of nowhere.

If Mob had any doubts about getting back to Spirits & Such before close, they were gone now. They definitely wouldn't be able to get back on time. When the bus finally let them off at their stop and they started to walk the road alongside the massive fields that flanked its sides, Mob began to fish out his phone to send Reigen a text of apology.

But before he could, he heard a sound.

Mob immediately tensed, trying to put a name to that sound. But just as quickly as it came, it left.

"Did you two hear that?"

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Teruki had never been on the other side of an entourage like this, but...it was kind of fun, just watching someone filled with as much sincere passion like Tome do their thing. She had a professional-grade camera out aimed at every which way while Teruki and Mob trailed dutifully behind.

The leisurely atmosphere didn't last long, though. Teruki tensed at the same time Mob did. The faint sound was washed away by a sudden breeze that swept through in the aftermath. "It was faint, but...yeah."

Tome turned her head, none the wiser, camera glued to her eye and giving her the appearance of an extraterrestrial herself. "Huh? Did you say something, Kageyama?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Without saying anything to the others, Mob pushed through the field of wheat, drawing a path to where he was sure it was coming from.

[mp_npc]

"Kageyama?" Tome hesitated when Mob took a silent pivot into the fields, but followed when Teru motioned for her to go in before him. She held her camera close to her body and kept her other arm out in front of her to keep it from getting scratched. As she followed she couldn't help but notice the shadows they were casting from the sun getting lower in the sky were dulling as clouds began to move. "Um...where...?"

"He's got a scent," Teru leaned in close to Tome to whisper. "It's weak enough that I can barely tell which direction it's coming from, so...be patient, okay?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

After a few minutes of walking through the field of wheat, Mob abruptly stopped.

"Um," he started. "I think it's over here." He directed a single digit ahead of them. "It's pretty close so... maybe it'd be better if you stayed back, at least for now."

[mp_npc]

"It is!?" Tome nearly yelled but managed to dial it back in. "A-alright..."

'Actually...what's that smell...?'

Something smelled singed--burnt, more like. She turned her head and stood on her tip-toes to take in the landscape but couldn't quite see anything out of the ordinary over the contours of the wheat.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob pushed through, the smell of smoke growing more and more pronounced as he drew closer. Then finally, he emerged from the field of wheat only to find himself in an arcing path carved within in. Other paths seemed to go off this way and that from inside and outside of the circle he seemed to be standing in.

And that smoke? It was coming from the edge of the path, as if the wheat that had stood there had been abruptly lasered out of existence.

"A crop circle," he concluded. He didn't say it loudly, but he was sure Tome could hear it from where she stood behind him.

Maybe he should have said it a little more quietly.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Tome sucked all the oxygen out of the air at Mob's words and her feet were rushing forward--until she was stumbling back with a yelp and holding her forehead.

Sorry, Teru apologized to the girl mentally for erecting the temporary barrier. Even if Mob was leading the charge, he could at least make sure his girlfriend-to-be didn't accidentally get her legs blown off by some twitchy spirit. After all, something that could generate that much heat wasn't the peaceful type. "I can feel something close."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob walked forward down one of the paths that lead to the center of the circle (was it a circle? Mob thought it might be). There were several turns before he found it, there in the middle of the circle.

A pile of chaff.

He could feel it coming strongly from there. But it didn't feel bad at all. He cautiously moved the chaff aside to reveal a bird, laying on its side.

Mob tensed. 46%, 47%... Was it dead?

Mob gently cupped the bird in his hands and felt warmth. And beneath that warmth, a beating heart. It wasn't what Mob expected. Not the bird itself or the heartbeat. This was a spirit, right? Not even Dimple -- Mob swallowed -- not even Dimple had a heartbeat.

48%.

"It's a bird," Mob called out to the others. "I think he's a spirit... but also not a spirit."