"They're like animals," I muttered to myself as I locked the bathroom door behind me.

I looked around and realized I was in the wrong bathroom. I shrugged. Oh well. It's not like there was anyone else in here. And those girls waiting outside to profess their undying love for me would never tattle on me.

I leaned back against the door and let myself slide down it until I was sitting on the dirty bathroom floor. I pulled my hands into my lap so that they wouldn't touch the floor. I wasn't about to get some kind of horrible flesh-eating disease from this disgusting bathroom.

There was pretty much a guarantee that no females would be trying to come in here to do their business. There were missing tiles on the floor and the lighting was horrible. Not to mention the cracked mirrors, dirty sinks, and moldy walls. The air reeked of rot all around me. Despite everything, the tiny bathroom felt cozy.

......

Mathematics was normally my favorite subject. Not only did I share it with Shota and Kaito, but I was also really good at it. But today, math seemed to last for hours. My bladder, you see, was bursting. I should have known better than to not go after lunch. But I was been in a hurry.

When the bell rang, I practically squealed in delight. I jumped out of my seat and began stuffing my books back into my bag. Shota took one look at my face and began laughing.

"Going somewhere?" He asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I flipped him off, grinning at him. I was so determined to reach my goal that I didn't even realize when my notebook fell out of my bag.

I hurried out of class. I was tempted to cross my legs as I ran but knew that would only slow me down during my quest for a bathroom. I was on the second floor, right below the third floor and its murder bathroom. Finally, I reached the second floor bathroom.

I rushed into the tiny bathroom and let the door swing shut behind me. But something wasn't right. The second floor bathroom was relatively new to the school. It had been converted from a classroom into a bathroom only about a year ago. But the bathroom I was standing in had cracked mirrors and dim lighting and missing tiles. The stalls' walls were covered in spider webs of cracks.

Once I had registered these changes, it took me only a moment to realize that, somehow, I was in the third floor bathroom. I spun around and charged for the door. But it didn't budge. I braced my heels against the dirty tiles and began yanking on the door handle with all my might. But even as I pulled, I could hear a stall door creeping open behind me. I didn't dare look. I had read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and I was not going down like Moaning Myrtle.

The thing was making a swishing noise behind me as it drew closer.

"Hello?" A voice called from outside the bathroom door.

I recognized it instantly.

"SHOTA!" I shrieked, pausing in my battle with the door for a moment.

"Ichika? How the crap did you end up in there? Are you crazy?!"

"Just get me out of here," I sobbed frantically as I jerked on the door, "I'll explain in a moment."

"Alright!" He cried back.

I stepped slightly backwards away from the door as it shook from Shota colliding with it. I could hear the thing from the stall moving around behind me, growing louder by the minute. It seemed intent on getting my attention.

"Red... or blue?" The thing whispered in a scratchy voice.

I covered my ears with my hands and focused on the shaking door as Shota's friend Kaito Nakamura began ramming his body into the door as well. Kaito was a lot more muscled up than Shota was so that made me feel a tad bit more hopeful about my future.

Suddenly, ice cold fingers wrapped around my hands (which were still covering my ears). With unbelievable strength, the thing pulled my fingers off of my skull one by one. I choked on tears as it did so. It was right there. So close that I could smell it. It smelled like rot and death and food when it had been left in the fridge for far too long.

It pulled my hands down until they were at my side. Slowly, I felt its chin begin to press into my shoulders. It felt like I was being embraced by death.

"You're... the only... one," it whispered in a raspy voice.

Tears began to roll down my cheeks. Gradually, the chin lifted off of my shoulder and its hands left mine. Then it was gone. I couldn't feel its presence anymore. I jumped as the door suddenly flew open. Shota and Kaito tumbled to the dirty floor. Shota landed on top of Kaito and was up and examining me in seconds. My notebook was lying on the floor by his feet. I supposed he must have come after me to return it.

Shota pulled Kaito and I back out into the hall and wrapped an arm around me. He was speaking under his breath in quick and nearly silent Japanese. It took me a moment to realize he was praying. When I looked over Shota's shoulder, I could see Kaito standing in the empty hallway, staring as if mesmerized by the third floor bathroom. His face was pale and his eyes were as wide as saucers. It was almost as if he could feel that thing too.

Suddenly, I realized that they weren't having to feel it. They could see it. The thing stood, tall and towering, wrapped in a red cloak in the bathroom door. It hadn't left at all. It had been there the entire time. It had just stopped letting me feel it. Or maybe I had blocked it out. But whatever had hidden it from me, had been lying.

I watched as the golden mask covering its entire face seemed to grin at us.

"What is that thing?" Kaito asked Shota under his breath.

Shota didn't respond. His eyes were locked on the creature and his prayer had lifted slightly in volume. I could hear what he was saying now.

"Omonaru kamisama, watashi ga kono Ni~Tsu o hajimeru toki, watashi wa anata no hogo o inorimasu. Anata wa watashi no kakure bashodeari, anata no tsubasa no shita de watashi wa itsumo hinansho o mitsukeru koto ga dekimasu. Doko e itte mo toraburu kara watashi o mamori, aku o watashi kara tōzakete kudasai."

"What is that thing?" Kaito repeated as the creature began to slowly disappear back into the shadowy bathroom.

Shota's prayer slowed down and gradually came to a halt. He looked over at Kaito with a grim expression on his face.

"Aka Manto."