"We'll simply be contacting the lingering dead in the immediate area of the last disappearance," Tomoko clarified, lowering her staff as she did, "If anyone's seen what was going on, it was probably them."

A smile still on her face, she turned to face the door before immediately being tackled by the oni, yelping as she hit the ground a bit too hard for her liking.

"Owowow..." she rubbed her backside, squirming a little.

"We're just asking them questions, they're not the perpetrators," she said, wincing slightly as she patted the oni carefully on the head, eventually managing to get her to let go. That was that. Well, at least she was fairly certain of the fact that ghosts weren't the perpetrators. Truly dangerous ghosts did indeed exist, but this string of disappearances didn't appear to be the work of such beings. At least, not any that could still be considered the spirits of deceased humans.

The girl paused for a final time, however, when she heard Mikoto's protests. She remained still for a brief moment, before turning entirely to face him.

"Don't worry about any of that," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "I wouldn't make that kind of mistake. Invoking a [i]kami[/i] requires a lot more work then just calling up a ghost for a casual chat. Besides, humans who have died and yet linger here are recognized as spirits, aren't they?"

Indeed, ghosts were able to recognize her nature as well.

"You shouldn't be so doubtful of your club president."

Tomoko waved her finger in an admonishing fashion, as if being perfectly comfortable with summoning the ghosts of the dead was the most natural thing in the world. To be fair, to suggest that she had never communicated with the dead before would be rather silly. It was hard for Tomoko to go a week without meeting a ghost.

That being said, most people were not so likely to view the action so casually.

As the door opened, the shape of the girl Tomoko had arrived with in the first place shimmered into view, holding her umbrella over the petite blonde girl, the single eye upon it glancing at the others, the tongue waving back and forth.

"Let's go!"

[hr]

The trip there was a wet one, though as they reached the scene of the crime the rain appeared to be dying down. Tomoko, with her hands-free umbrella, had of course remained completely dry during the whole walk.

Why she had elected to walk there rather then any other method of transport was perhaps mysterious, or perhaps simply because she felt like it. Regardless of the case, by this point in the day there were few people in this area of town.

The most recent disappearance had happened at night, and no-one was certain where it had actually occurred. Therefore, Tomoko had decided to travel to the site of the second-to-last disappearance. Not only was it a shorter walk, but it was also one of the most baffling: It had happened right behind the child's parent's backs.

Makishima Taro's disappearance was among the strangest of them, for certain.

The site of the disappearance was a playground. It seemed as if Tomoko had deliberately targeted both a fairly late point in the day, and a day where there would be very few people in the area, to begin her investigation.

"And now... let's get started!"

The ofuda she drew and tossed into the air was one-hundred-percent necessary, one of many invocation spells she had prepared prior to her arrival.

The pose she struck, drawing the five-pointed star of Abe no Seimei in the air with her cane around it, was almost invariably not. As the shimmering sign faded, the ofuda began to glow...

Tomoko straightened.

For a few moments, nothing in particular seemed to happen... And then...

Lurching out of the shadows, was the gaunt, grey-faced figure of a girl in her teens. She appeared like a dry corpse, her kimono in tatters with the colors faded away, eyes rolled back, hands grasping at the air, fingers curled like claws. Her mouth hung open, a death rattle escaping her throat, dried blood caked over one empty eye socket, a ragged gash across her throat.

When she spoke, her voice was like a whisper.

"Who... dares to-"

The ghost stopped for a moment.

When she spoke again, her voice was completely different.

"Oh, it's you, ojou-sama!"

Almost immediately, her eyes seemed to reappear in the sockets. Her hair neatened considerably, skin fading to a pale, but much less grey flesh tone. Her wounds sealed, her cheeks filled out... in moments, aside from a certain ethereal nature...

[url=https://safebooru.org//samples/2763/sample_836f3edf0beb780b0c680d72f826d3029c474291.jpg?2877018]The girl who stood before them wasn't threatening at all.[/url]

"And some other people! What are all of you here for?" she questioned, tilting her head. "Fufu, if you're here to play karuta again, I won't lose this time!"

[@Rune_Alchemist][@TheHangedMan][@RolePlayerRoxas][@Crab Bane][@Raineh Daze][@Pyromania99]