"They should be here, though I can't guarantee their wellbeing." Hanako said, looking around.

"This place is a lot more extravagant than last time." (Y/n) said, looking around in awe.

"You've been in here before?" Nene asked.

"Oh yeah, total accident of course the first time." (Y/n) explained. "And the person here was very surprised to see me. Kicked me out real quickly. But now and then we chat over tea. Well, coffee with me."

The four continued walking, looking around at the unique decor. It felt otherworldly to the two humans, but it was the usual for the spirits. The humans noticed dolls with the kanji for two written on paper over their faces. The two were creeped out by it.

They came to another flight of stairs, Nene now noticing the water over them. (Y/n) could see her reach her hand down and touch the water, causing small pink scales to appear. This caused (Y/n) to think about her own situation with the mermaid scales.

'I wonder what I look like as a fish...'

"Oi, Hanako!" Kou said. "There's nothing here! Isn't there something supposed to tear us apart?"

"They wouldn't do it right away." Hanako explained. "Where's the fun if you end it before you even start?"

"Whittling you away...ever so slowly...that's the fun part!" Hanako said, scaring the humans.

"Hanako, stop that." (Y/n) said.

"You're sick." Kou replied.

"Well, yeah." Hanako shrugged. "We're the eight mysteries, as the eight pillars that govern the supernaturals of this school. We must be known by as many people as possible."

"That's why we- well most of us, frighten people." (Y/n) explained. "Think it this way. Nice creatures who do good, and bad creatures who do harm. The bad scary creatures are the ones who likely make an impression. It's human nature..."

"Still, number two's gone too far." Hanako said, eyes narrowing. "We have to put a nonsense to this immediately."

Rrrrrrrring!

Nene and Kou froze in shock, surprised by the sudden ringing sound. The four turned to see an old fashion rotary phone ringing.

Rrrrrrrring!

Rrrrrrrring!

Nene walked up to the phone, grabbing it and listing it to her ear. "H-hello?"

"It's..."

"Misaki."

The four looked at each other in surprise. 'A call from the mystery themselves?!'

Nene took notice the voice sounded like a women's.

"I've been teaching my students in the schoolhouse at the top of these stairs."

"But I was killed, torn to pieces here."

"Right where you are standing."

"Say, would you..."

"Please look for my body?"

Nene shook in fear, her voice not coming to her. (Y/n) noticed this and rubbed her hand against the girl's back, attempting to soothe the frightened girl. With the help of the spirit, Nene was able to find her voice.

"I can't do anything as I am now..."

"Wait! Where's Aoi?"

"First, my right arm."

The women's voice said, ignoring the human's desperate plea.

"My right arm...that is the arm I use to hold the chalk I use to write letters with."

"Do hurry, class with be starting soon..."

Click!

"She hanged up..." Nene said, placing the phone back. A rumble caught their attention, noticing a giant hourglass turning. Signifying how long they have.

"So we have a time limit huh?" Kou said.

"Do you think we can move forward if we move the arm in there?" Nene asked, pointing out the little shrine next to the hourglass.

"Most likely." (Y/n) answered. "But I'm not sure..."

"Something will definitely happen though." Hanako pointed out. Nene was quiet, brows furrowing in worry.

"Forget it Senpai!" Kou said, trying to cheer up the girl. "It was just a prank call, let's ignore it and keep going!"

"I wouldn't do that Kou." (Y/n) said. The two looked at her in question.

"See, we eight mysteries are unbeatable in our own boundary. For example, mines the bathroom." Hanako explained.

"And mine the roof!"

"So there's no telling what would happen if you went off the path and made her angry." He pushed Kou towards the edge of the pathway. "But be my guest if you want to try, boy."

"Hanako, don't scare him." (Y/n) glared, slapping the back of the spirit's head with her open palm. "For now, let's look for what she's asking us to. Her left arm."

"Right arm." Nene corrected.

"Right, the right arm."

"If you say so..."

"Good idea (Y/n)!" Hanako smiled, looking through a drawer nearby. "It can actually be fun looking for stuff. For example..."

"I found treasure!" Hanako exclaimed, showing he found an adult magazine. "Come look boy!"

"Take this seriously!" Kou yelled, swinging his staff to hit the spirit with it. (Y/n) sighed at them, deciding to float upward to look.

"I'll look over here, we'll meet up with what we've found." Nene said, sighing at the boys' behavior. Who were now chasing each other, Hanako trying to show while Kou running away to not look at the magazine.

(Y/n) rummaged through the various things, ignoring what was happening between the three. 'Why is Yako suddenly like this? I know she loved her old teacher but...to impersonate him and take students like this...'

'Something isn't right.'

"(Y/n)-chan!" The spirit was brought out of her thoughts by Nene's shouting. "You haven't even find one yet!"

"Sorry, guess I was distracted by something hehe..." She scratched her cheek sheepishly.

"Heehee!"

"Heehee!"

The four looked around, suddenly realizing dolls appearing around them.

"Time's up!"

"Time's up!"

"It's class time!"

"Looks like time's up anyway." (Y/n) stated, focusing her energy into her palm. "We just have to put any arm in the shrine now I guess."

"Which one of you is running late?"

"You want a piece? Come and get it then!" Kou exclaimed, readying his staff. Hanako readied his knife as well, the three fighters grouping around the defenseless Nene.

"Uh guys?" (Y/n) asked. "You see the giant floating scissors too, right?"

"Get down!" Hanako yelled, pushing the two humans down in time to avoid the scissors cutting their heads off. (Y/n) had barely ducked in time, bits of her hair cut off.

"Aw man! Yako owes me a haircut now!"

"Complain later!" Hanako scolded the female, pushing her to start running. All four screamed as the giant tool chased them around, that is until they reached the end of the stairs. "Dead end!"

Nene stopped, suddenly unable to move her foot. She looked down to see the dolls holding her feet down. She shook in fear, not noticing something creeping up.

"The tardy one...is you!!"

"Nene!" (Y/n) screamed, seeing the scissors close in on the female's neck. She moved to try and save her friend, pulling against the dolls holding her down as well. Hanako managed to break free and save the human girl at the last second.

"H-Hanako-kun!" Nene said appreciatively.

"Stay back." The boy replied, pushing Nene into (Y/n)'s arms. He then turned and swung his leg with all his might, destroying the sheers instantly.

"Nice going!"

"You did it!"

"No." (Y/n) stated, glaring at the pair of scissors appearing again, already have fixed itself. "It's far from over."

Dolls grabbed onto the two girls again, holding them in place. Hanako blocked another attack with his knife.

"Kid!"

"Don't order me around!" Kou exclaimed, knocking the dolls off the girls. "I'm already on it!"

"Thanks dude!" (Y/n) thanked, grabbing Nene into her arms. "Time to run!!"

The three ran as fast as they could towards the door. Nene had noticed the Mokke appearing with the arms three of them found.

"Put it in the shrine!" Hanako yelled. Kou grabbed one a threw it as hard as he could, causing the object to slam into the shrine. The small doors closed, causing the giant doors to slowly open.

"Get in! In, in, in!!" The three rushed past the doors, hurriedly closing them in exhaustion. "Well that was something, nice throw buddy."

Nene looked on to see more stairs and dolls, dejected by not seeing any students so far.

Rrrrrrrring!

The four looked to see another rotary phone. Nene walked up to answer until the two spirits stopped her, Hanako picking it up instead.

"Yello?" Hanako answered.

"My left arm..."

"Please find my left arm."

"Every morning before class, I go make an offering and say a prayer at the shrine."

"I'd clap my hands together, and pray for everyone's good health."

(Y/n) looked at Hanako, waiting for him to say something. He glanced back at her, both knowing what the other was thinking. He nodded, confirming ther girl's thoughts.

"Do hurry, class-"

"Yo, number two." Hanako interrupted the voice, smiling menacingly. "You do remember me, right?"

"And me as well?" (Y/n) asked, smiling like Hanako. The voice stayed silent, processing her thoughts before speaking coldly.

"Class begins soon."

Click!

The two humans look at the spirits in question.

"We were just saying hi." Hanako explained to them.

"You three know each other?"

"Well yeah, we're all mysteries."

"Does that mean you knew Hanako-kun already?" Nene asked.

"Well I mean, I knew of him. I never bothered to meet him, or go to the mystery meetings in fact..." (Y/n) replied, remembering Tsuchigomori scolding her for skipping out the meetings.

"We're looking for arms again?" Kou sighed in annoyance. "What a pain..."

"Hey you two, isn't there an easier way to beat her?" He asked.

"You mean like a weakness?" (Y/n) clarified.

"Yeah."

"Oh, there is." Hanako answered. "Her Yorishiro."

"Torishiro?"

"Yorishiro." (Y/n) corrected. "It's essentially the source of all us mysteries's powers. Without it, we're significantly weaker."

"For example." She continued. "Mine is actually on my person."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Kou asked.

"It could be, but it's the one place a person wouldn't expect." She explained, not noticing Hanako's saddened expression. He understood what it meant that her Yorishiro was on her at all times, what it meant for her own boundary.

"Well where do we find this Norishiro?" Kou asked in excitement.

"Yorishiro." Nene corrected the boy.

"Right, yorishiro. Whatever."

"It's in the deepest part of the boundary." Hanako answered.

"The deepest part?"

"Exactly what I said, the furthest you can reach the boundary." He explained "I suspect we'll find it way beyond that door up there."

"The very top..." (Y/n) muttered, looking up to see the many and many flights of stairs. 'Now I remember why I don't visit often...'

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

The four continued to play their game of search, finding objects that resembled limbs and other body parts. With some mishaps of "being late". Until finally, with the final part put into the tiny shrine, they reached the top.

"Ugh! Finally! I was getting tired." (Y/n) groaned in relief, on her knees in exhaustion.

"I could've carried you if you asked." Hanako replied, smirking down at her.

"Yeah right ya perv!" She yelled in response. "That would just give you a chance to grope me."

"I would never!"

"Yes you would." The other three said to the ghost boy, deadpanning at his over dramatic act of sadness.

"So this is the deepest part?" Kou asked, looking around.

"I think so..." Hanako answered. The two walked ahead, watching for any sign of danger.

Nene followed them, noticing the aura of the room was different then the rest of the boundary. Her foot bumped into something, she looked down to try and see. She couldn't see what is was but shook in fear, then the object fell off the path. She listened to the fall, not hearing it crash into the ground at all.

"Look, over there!" Kou pointed ahead, revealing a human figure to the other three. "Someone's over there!"

That's when they realized, it was the body parts they collected assembled together.

"Holy shi-"

"Yikes."

"Scary..."

"You just had to give it that weird leg boy." Hanako chastised.

"Wha?! You're the one who said it didn't matter as long as we could continue onward!" Kou yelled flustered.

"But didn't you give it that weird broom arm Hanako?" (Y/n) asked. "At least me and Nene chose stuff that made sense."

"Aww, the bust size and left leg are perfect..." Nene mumbled to herself, not realizing the other heard her.

"The bust? Nah girl." (Y/n) stated. "Why would you want a bust like that?"

Soon the four heard footsteps, turning to see a women walking to to them.

"I see you finally made it." She said, her voice exactly like the voice from the phone.

'Ah, as beautiful as ever Yako.' (Y/n) thought smiling, before furrowing her brows. 'But...why have you gone this far?'

Suddenly she rushed past the four, stepping in front of the assembled body.

"Uh...we tried tried our best." Kou mumbled. The woman looked at them, eyes narrowed into slits. The four gulped, before she smiled dreamily.

"What a wonderful body!"

"Huh?"

"I was at such a loss you see, I don't know what human bodies are made out of..." She started, cupping her cheek in embarrassment. Then she shook Nene's hand. "I always knew it was a good idea to ask humans about human things!"

"This is nothing like any of the other bodies I've had made. I'm sure it'll work this time..." She said, now cupping the cheek of the doll. "Isn't that right? Misaki? Go on! Let me see you walk."

She blew into the doll, giving life to the monster like figure. It stood up, twitching and creaking. The four looked at it in horror, regretting grabbing random items. Soon it's right leg bent and the whole doll fell apart. "Oh dear..."

"Another failure. What a shame..." The woman sighed, picking up the now dismembered body.

"Um..." Nene started. "Have you seen any other students that got lost around here?"

"Others? Oh..." The woman looked at the group. "You mean the other children who failed? In that case..."

"They're all around, didn't you see?"

The group now realized the giant shadow behind the woman was a pile of dolls, now seeing the students in doll form with number two papers on their faces. (Y/n) and Nene froze at seeing Aoi, the two rushed to the doll.

"Aoi!!" The screamed, Nene grabbing the doll and shook it. "Please wake up!"

(Y/n) stayed silent, processing what the woman did. She growled, her knuckles turned white from how tightly she was clutching her blue skirt.

"I try and try again, but nothing ever works..." The woman sighed, materializing her scissors. "I've had enough."

"You bitch." (Y/n) growled, her eyes blazing in fury. Everyone else beside the woman froze at her tone, surprised. "I'll kill you!"

She launched herself at the woman, hands glowing in power. She blasted a star, but the woman used her scissors to block it. The woman swung them at the girl, (Y/n) quickly dodged and backed towards Hanako.

"(Y/n)! Calm down-"

"Don't get in my way!" She yelled, her palm glowing again.

"I will tear you apart now, just as the rumor says..."

The woman said, scissors prepared to cut Nene's head off. Kou jumped in time to block them with his bare arm.

"Senpai! Are you ok-" A puff of smoke stopped him, causing him to turn his head to see his arm transformed into that of a plush doll. "Wha?!"

"Looks like if you get cut by those scissors, you'll turn into a doll." Hanako stated, seeing (Y/n) attack the woman again.

"How are we supposed to fight her then?!" Kou asked. "Can't you do that thing with the cape?"

"Nope, I can't."

"What?!"

"This is number two's domain, I can't use Haku-joudai if I don't have her permission." Hanako explained, flinching whenever he see (Y/n) get nearly hit by the giant weapon. "It would be different if we destroyed her Yorishiro, but it doesn't seem to be here..."

"Well what do we do?!" Kou asked.

"Hmm..." Hanako suddenly jumped, grabbing (Y/n) before she could go in for another attack and backed away. Now holding onto (Y/n) from attacking, he rushed to Nene. "Keep her busy boy!"

"Say what?!" Kou yelled in shock, having to dodge an attack.

"Let go!"

"Calm down, you need to be level headed." He replied, pulling the girl close to him. "Please (Y/n)..."

"I'm going to tear her limb from limb!!" The girl yelled in rage. "She hurt my friend!! I promised myself I wouldn't let my friends get hurt again!"

Hanako eyes softened, knowing what she was talking about. He pressed his forehead against her, now realizing she was shaking. "(Y/n), you're starting to panic. Please, just focus on me."

"But-"

"She's not dead, you know that." He interrupted her. "You know nothing can die here, your emotions are getting to you. Just focus on me and breathe."

She took a deep breathe, looking into the boy's eyes. She exhaled, noticing how golden they were. Continued to look into his eyes, getting lost in them as she normalized her breathing.

"That's it." Hanako praised. He reached his hand to scratch into her hair, almost like how you pet a cat. She leaned into his touch, a small smile replacing her gritted teeth. "Good, good. Better?"

"Yes, thank you...Amane." She whispered, hugging the boy. He smiled, glad he was able to calm down his friend like he used to all those years ago.

"Of course, now..." The two let go of each other, now walking over to Nene.

"Nene." (Y/n) crouched down to comfort the girl, rubbing her back. "Don't give up, she's still alive."

Nene looked at her in shock.

"She's right." Hanako said. "This world is between the near and far shores. Meaning..."

"Nothing can come to life here, and nothing can die here."

"Here, where there is no birth or death." (Y/n) said, smiling. "The ones with the most power are the one who don't give up."

Nene looked at them, rubbed her eyes, and put on a face of determination. "I'm not giving up! I'll do anything!"

(Y/n) smiled, praising the girl in her head. Hanako looked at her, before smiling creepily.

"Anything?"

"Hanako no-" Before she could stop him, he tied a rope around Nene. (Y/n) sighed, seeing him pull her towards the edge.

"Wait...what?"

"The Yorishiro isn't here, this isn't the deepest part." Hanako explained, making sure his knots were tight. "So I had a thought!"

"If it's not at the very top, it's at the very bottom!"

"Y-you don't mean..." Hanko put his hands on the human's shoulders smiling. Then he pushed her.

"We're all counting on you!"

"Wai-No!!" Nene screamed as she fell down.

"Hanako! What the hell-" (Y/n) stopped, now realizing the end of the rope was tied to her waist. She looked at him, seeing him smirk.

"Oh you-" The rope pulled her down, causing her to fall after Nene.

"Bastard!!" She screamed at the smirking boy as she fell down.

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Just want to show you a drawing I did of (Y/n), still haven't thought of a name but if you have any ideas please tell me!!