Chapter 10: Operation High School

Even from the outside, hiding in the overgrown azalea bushes near the gymnasium, I can feel it. The air tastes like chalk dust, cheap cologne, and anxiety. It is a volatile mix of stress about upcoming exams, excitement about secret crushes, and the general chaotic noise of youth. But underneath it all, curled around the foundation of the school like a sleeping snake, there is a sickly, cold undercurrent. It feels sticky against my spiritual senses, like walking through a spiderweb in the dark.

"It is disgusting", Inoe whispers. She is currently a calico cat, crouching elegantly beside me in the dirt. She wrinkles her nose, her whiskers twitching with profound distaste. "It smells like spoiled milk and jealousy. I hate high schools. They are factories for bad vibes".

"It is the spirit", Kenuji projects his thoughts into our minds. He is sitting perfectly still, his grey tail wrapped neatly around his paws. His eyes are closed as he scans the building with his psychic radar, filtering out the noise to find the source. "The signal is strong. It is not just one bad vibe. It is a network. A web connecting hundreds of minds".

"Can we stop talking about the vibes and just go inside?" Yoshi grumbles. He is pacing back and forth in the limited space of the bush, his black fur standing on end. He hates waiting. He hates planning. "I want to scratch something. My claws are itching".

"Patience, Blackie", I tease him, swatting his tail with my paw. "We need a plan. We cannot just run in there meowing".

"Target acquired", Kenuji interrupts, his mental voice sharp and clear. "I sense five students in the nurse's office on the first floor. They are sleeping off fevers or minor injuries. Their consciousness levels are low. They are perfect vessels".

"Finally!" Muji growls. He is already moving, his orange striped body low to the ground. "Let's move. I am tired of smelling this bush".

We sneak onto the grounds in cat form, slipping through a jagged gap in the chain-link fence near the gymnasium. The grass is tall here, uncut and full of chirping insects, but we move silently. We are shadows in the daylight. We dart across the pavement, avoiding the gaze of a P.E. teacher who is yelling at a group of kids running laps around the track.

We reach the side of the main building. The beige tiles are warm against my paws. There is a window left open just a crack-probably to let some fresh air into the stuffy nurse's office.

"I will go first", Yoshi transmits. He leaps effortlessly, catching the ledge with his claws and pulling himself up. He peers inside, sniffing the air, then signals with a flick of his tail. "Clear".

We follow him, one by one, landing softly on the linoleum floor inside.

The nurse's office smells like rubbing alcohol, lemon cleaner, and sickness. It is quiet, the only sound being the rhythmic tick-tock of a clock on the wall and the soft, congested breathing of the students. The nurse is sitting at her desk in the front room, typing loudly on a computer keyboard. We are in the back room, where the beds are drawn behind privacy curtains.

We creep under the curtains. Five beds. Five students. They are sound asleep, oblivious to the five magical cats staring at them from the floor.

"Apologies in advance", I whisper to the girl in the bed nearest to me. She looks peaceful, her dark hair fanned out on the pillow. She has a cooling patch on her forehead. "We just need to borrow you for a bit. We promise to return you in mint condition. Maybe even a little better".

"Let's do this", Kenuji commands. "Sync your spiritual wavelengths. Don't force them out. Just... suppress them".

We close our eyes. I focus on the core of my being, that bright, glowing spark of Divine energy. I pull it inward, condensing my physical form. It feels like being squeezed through a straw. My cat body dissolves into golden mist. I float up, weightless and formless, and drift toward the sleeping girl.

Entering a human body is always weird. It feels like putting on a wetsuit that is slightly too small and still damp from someone else wearing it. There is a moment of resistance, a spiritual squelch, and then-snap.

I open my eyes.

I am not Haruka the cat anymore. I am a human girl.

I sit up slowly, testing the limbs. My arms feel heavy. My center of gravity is all wrong. I look at my hands. They are small, with chipped pink nail polish on the thumbs. I am wearing a navy blue blazer and a plaid skirt with the Kibougaoka crest embroidered on the pocket. I can feel the scratchy fabric of the uniform against my skin.

"Ugh", a deep voice groans from the bed next to me. "This body is stiff. Does this kid ever stretch? My neck hurts already".

I look over. A tall boy with messy brown hair is sitting up, rubbing the back of his neck. He cracks it loudly. The gesture is unmistakable. It is Yoshi.

"Stop complaining", another voice says. This one comes from a boy with thick, black-rimmed glasses who is adjusting them on his nose. Kenuji. "We are on a timer. We have maybe an hour before these kids wake up or the nurse comes to check on them. Or before their fever breaks".

Inoe sits up in the third bed. She is now a girl with pigtails and a very cute yellow ribbon. She immediately smooths down her skirt and checks her reflection in the darkened window. "At least I got a cute vessel. Look at Muji".

We all turn to look at the last bed. Muji is inhabiting the body of a muscular boy who looks like he belongs on the baseball team. He is flexing his arm, staring at the bicep with intense fascination.

"This body is strong", Muji says, grinning. He clenches and unclenches his fist. "I like it. I bet I could punch through a wall with this".

"Do not punch through walls!" I hiss at him. "We are undercover. Remember? If you break his hand, he is going to feel it when he wakes up".

"Let's go", Kenuji says, sliding off the bed. "The signal is moving".

We exit the nurse's office carefully. The nurse is still typing, her back to us. We tiptoe past the open door and slip into the hallway.

The bell rings just as we step out. Ding-dong-dang-dong.

Suddenly, the hallway is flooded. Classroom doors slide open all at once and hundreds of students pour out. The noise is deafening-shouting, laughing, lockers slamming, shoes squeaking on the floor. It is a sensory overload.

"I hate high school", Yoshi mutters, dodging a group of girls running to the cafeteria. "It is too loud. Why is everyone screaming?"

"Focus!" Kenuji orders. He stops in the middle of the hallway, ignoring the students bumping into him. He touches his temple. "The signal is coming from the backyard. Behind the equipment shed. It feels... sticky. Like tar".

We navigate the hallways, trying to look like a normal group of friends. I catch glimpses of myself in the glass of the trophy cases. I look like just another student. It is wild how easily we blend in. Nobody looks twice at us.

We push through the double doors at the end of the corridor and step out into the humid afternoon air. The backyard of the school is less crowded. There are some tennis courts to the left where a club is practicing, but Kenuji leads us to the right, toward a secluded area behind the old gymnasium where the delinquent kids usually hang out to skip class.

The air here is different. It is heavy. Cold. It feels like walking into a freezer. The sunlight seems dimmer here.

"Do you feel that?" I ask, rubbing my arms. "The spiritual pressure. It is huge".

"We are close", Muji says, his voice low. He clenches his fists. "I can smell it. Rotten eggs and fear".

We round the corner of the equipment shed and stop dead in our tracks.

We see them.

A group of three male students is circling a fourth student-a smaller boy who is clutching his backpack to his chest, shaking. The three bullies are laughing, but it is not a happy sound. It is a hollow, distorted sound. It sounds like rocks grinding together.

But what the humans cannot see-and what we can see clearly-is the monster.

A massive, slug-like spirit is draped over the entire group of bullies. It is the size of a minivan, made of dripping black sludge and pulsating purple veins. It has no face, just hundreds of blinking eyes scattered across its gelatinous body. Thick, sticky threads of black slime extend from the spirit's body, plunging into the backs of the three bullies like puppet strings.

"It is a Hive Mind Spirit", Inoe hisses, her eyes narrowing. "It connects the bullies and feeds on their mob mentality. It amplifies their cruelty and drinks the fear of the victim. It is a parasite".

"That is disgusting", Yoshi says, curling his lip. "I am going to puke. Let's kill it".

The spirit notices us. All those hundreds of eyes suddenly swivel in our direction. A low, vibrating hum fills the air.

The three bullies stop laughing. They turn around slowly, in perfect unison, like robots. Their eyes are glazed over, the irises completely black.

"Intruders..." they speak together. The voice is not theirs. It is deep, distorted, and sounds like wet mud slapping against concrete. "Fresh... meat..."

"Run!" one of the bullies screams, pointing at the victim. "Get him!"

The three bullies charge at us. They are unnaturally fast, fueled by the spirit's energy.

"Muji, take point!" Kenuji shouts.

Muji does not need to be told twice. He steps forward, planting his feet. "Hey!" he shouts. "Pick on someone your own size!"

The lead bully swings a fist at Muji's face. Muji doesn't even blink. He catches the fist in his palm. The sound of the impact is a loud thwack.

"Weak", Muji scoffs.

He twists his hips and throws the bully over his shoulder. The possessed student flies through the air and lands in a pile of old gym mats.

"Haruka, now!" Yoshi shouts. "Neutralize them!"

I step forward. I cannot use my full Divine power in this human vessel-it would burn out the poor girl's nervous system. But I can use a trick. I focus my energy into my hands. They glow with a soft, warm golden light.

"Sleep!" I command.

I clap my hands together. A wave of golden pollen bursts from my palms, shimmering in the air. It washes over the bullies.

The effect is instant. Their eyes roll back in their heads. Their knees buckle. One by one, they slump to the ground, snoring loudly.

The victim-the small boy with the backpack-stares at us, his mouth hanging open. He is trembling.

"Go!" I yell at him. "Run away! Go to the library!"

He scrambles to his feet and sprints back toward the school building, not looking back once.

The spirit screeches. It is a horrible sound, like metal grinding on glass. Detached from its puppets, it rises up, towering over us. It is angry now. The black sludge bubbles and boils.

"It is manifesting fully", Kenuji warns. "It is going to attack physically!"

A thick tentacle of sludge lashes out, aiming straight for me.

"Oh no you don't!" Muji yells.

He intercepts it. He does not have his physical claws, but he manifests his spiritual ones. Shining silver blades of energy extend from the fingertips of his borrowed body. He slashes upward in a clean arc.

Squelch.

He slices the tentacle cleanly in half. The severed piece falls to the ground and dissolves into smoke. The spirit howls.

"Yoshi, hold it down!" Muji yells, shaking slime off his hand.

Yoshi steps up. He stomps his right foot hard against the dirt. "Geomancer Arts: Earth Bind!"

The ground shakes. Cracks appear in the soil around the spirit. Spectral green vines burst from the dirt-visible only to us-and wrap around the slug spirit's body. They tighten, pinning it against the metal wall of the equipment shed. The spirit struggles, thrashing against the binds, but the earth magic holds firm.

"It is strong", Yoshi grits his teeth, sweat forming on his borrowed forehead. "I cannot hold it forever. Inoe, finish it!"

Inoe walks forward. She looks tiny next to the massive spirit, just a high school girl with pigtails. But her aura is terrifying. It flares pink and red around her.

She stops right in front of the spirit's main mass. She looks into its hundreds of blinking eyes.

"You are pathetic", Inoe says coldly. Her voice echoes with power. "You feed on the weak because you have no strength of your own".

The spirit freezes. It seems mesmerized by her voice.

"You are nothing", Inoe continues, her eyes glowing a bright, neon pink. "You are unwanted. You are broken. You do not exist".

The Mind Control command hits the spirit like a physical hammer. The spirit shudders violently. The black sludge begins to ripple.

"Disappear", Inoe commands.

The spirit implodes. It sucks inward on itself, shrinking smaller and smaller, swirling down a drain that isn't there, until- pop.

It vanishes. Just like a soap bubble.

The oppressive heaviness in the air lifts instantly. The cold is gone. The sun feels warm again. The three bullies on the ground are still snoring peacefully. They will wake up with headaches and no memory of what happened.

"Target destroyed", Kenuji confirms, adjusting his glasses. "Clean kill".

"That was disgusting", Yoshi says, wiping his hands on his pants. "I need a shower. This body feels greasy".

"We need to go", I say, checking the watch on my wrist. "The nurse will notice we are gone soon. We have to get back before the bell rings".

We turn and sprint back toward the school. We run through the hallways, breathless, dodging confused students. We burst back into the nurse's office, panting.

The nurse is gone-probably in the bathroom or getting coffee.

"Quick!" Kenuji hisses.

We dive back into the beds. I pull the covers up to my chin. I close my eyes and focus.

"Release", I whisper.

The sensation of leaving a body is much better than entering one. It is like taking off a heavy coat. I slide out, reforming into my white cat form on top of the bed.

I look around. Yoshi, Inoe, Muji, and Kenuji are all back in their cat forms too. The human students are still asleep, looking peaceful. The girl I possessed stirs slightly, murmuring something about a weird dream.

"Let's get out of here", Muji projects.

We jump out the window, one by one, landing in the grass outside. We scamper away from the school, putting distance between us and the confusion. We run until we reach the safety of the residential streets.

We find a hidden alleyway between two vending machines about three blocks away. It is safe here.

"Transform", Yoshi commands.

Poof.

Smoke clears. We are back in our own human forms-our true human forms. Yoshi is in his leather jacket, looking cool. Inoe is fixing her hair. Muji is stretching his arms. Kenuji is checking his phone.

"That was intense", I say, stretching my arms high above my head. My own body feels so much better. "I am starving. Using magic takes a lot of calories".

"Convenience store?" Muji suggests, his eyes lighting up. "I want a corn dog. A big one".

"You always want a corn dog", Inoe sighs, rolling her eyes. "But I could go for some pudding. The expensive kind".

"I need coffee", Kenuji says. "Possessing someone with bad eyesight gave me a headache".

"Fried chicken", Yoshi declares. "And maybe a beer. I earned it".

We walk out of the alley and into the nearest FamilyMart. The automatic doors slide open with a cheerful chime. The air conditioning hits us, and it feels like heaven.

We buy our snacks-corn dogs for Muji, premium custard pudding for Inoe, black iced coffee for Kenuji, and spicy fried chicken for Yoshi. I grab a melon pan and a strawberry milk.

We sit on the curb outside the store, eating our spoils and watching the cars drive by. The sun is starting to set, casting long orange shadows across the street.

"Another day, another exorcism", Yoshi says, taking a huge bite of his chicken. "We are pretty good at this, huh?"

"We are the best", Muji agrees with his mouth full of breading. "That spirit didn't stand a chance".

"It is a dirty job", Kenuji says, sipping his coffee. "But someone has to do it".

I smile, leaning my head on Inoe's shoulder. She smells like vanilla and expensive shampoo. The balance of the world is safe for one more day. The bullies are stopped, the victim is safe, and the evil spirit is gone.

And the melon pan tastes absolutely delicious.

"Hey", Yoshi says, tossing his chicken bone into a nearby bin with perfect aim. "Race you home?"

"You're on!" Muji grins.

"Loser cleans the litter box!" Inoe shouts.

We take off running down the street, laughing, five siblings against the world.