Note: I have nothing to do with Haunted Junction and its characters except to be a fan who enjoys the series a lot. This story is my extrapolation of the storylines as seen in Bandai's subtitled release of the series. I apologize if the subject matter is inconsistent with the original intent of the creators or the original Japanese. Note: episodes during which specific events took place are identified in brackets.
The spiritual quiet that spread over the land continued, with the Chairman alternately predicting impending doom and using all the free time to add to his collection--or the school's collection--of occult paraphernalia and spiritual items. More statues of Ninomiya Sontoku popped up on the grounds, adding to the school's already sizable battalion of Nino-kun's brethren. More Hanakos frequented the boys' restrooms, adding to the number of dazed and wide-eyed boys who wandered the halls. [Ep. 1&2] Fortunately, the Chairman hadn't found any other potentially disastrous gifts to buy, not like the time he'd bid on and won Pandora's Box. [Ep. 11&12] Kazumi had helped the Chairman as well, coming to school each day possessed by one animal spirit after another, and somehow attracting new, outside spirits even while he was in the school itself.
As the days went by Haruto found that, while people still moved out of his way as he walked through the halls, it wasn't with quite the same degree of nervousness or fear as before. Instead, the glances he managed to see were wondering or speculative. There were even some tentative smiles from some of the girls which he occasionally returned, but--fearing that his smile might come out looking like a death's head grin--more of than not he lowered his eyes and studied the floor.
The attention he was receiving from the girls did give him something to think about, though. Finally, one morning after he'd finished all his work, he allowed himself to actually daydream about girls.
He'd repeatedly claimed that he wanted to meet a normal girl and marry her and lead a normal life, but he'd never actually had time to imagine what that girl would look like. The terrors of being President of the Holy Student Council coupled with his fears of never escaping the strange and unnatural life he was leading had made him despair of ever finding a girl he could fall in love with. Now, though, it seemed as though he might actually have a chance at normalcy. Once he graduated, of course.
Now, what will she be like? he asked himself.
"She'll have long hair, of course," he said softly, staring up at the ceiling. "It won't just hang to her shoulders." He shook his head. "It will be longer, maybe to the middle of her back. But not to her waist, though. Well, then again, maybe."
He frowned. "Now, what kind of hair will it be? It won't curl like Asahina's, and she won't have any bangs dangling in front of her eyes. Straight hair. No, on second thought, it'll be long and nearly straight, but it will be soft and wavy. And fine. Yes, definitely fine, and she won't wear it pulled back in a bun or anything. It will hang loosely around her shoulders, framing her face."
"Now, what color?" Haruto asked himself. "Not a dark shade. And not red, like Asahina's. A lighter shade. Brunette? No, blonde. But what shade? Honey-blonde?" He suddenly remembered where he'd seen honey-blonde hair before, and he shook his head vehemently. "Definitely not! No, something lighter. Pale blonde? No, lighter. How about..."
"HARUTO!" the Chairman cried, his face suddenly spread across the ceiling and glowering down at him.
"AAAAAAA!" Haruto screamed, falling to the floor as his chair tipped back.
The Chairman abruptly shrank back to normal size, an innocent smile on his face. "Ah, there you are," he said.
Haruto jumped up, his heart hammering in his chest. He glared down at the Chairman. "Don't do that!" he complained. "Why do you keep trying to scare me to death?"
"Because it's fun," the Chairman said mildly. "Listen, Haruto, we have to talk."
Haruto ignored him, turning instead to pick up his chair. He set it nicely next to the table, then sat down in it. "What did you get this time?" he sighed. "Another school building?"
"Something evil has come into the neighborhood," the Chairman said solemnly.
Haruto sighed again. "You've been nothing but doom and gloom every day. Don't you ever get tired of predicting the end of the world?"
"Part of the evil was here about a month ago," the Chairman said, ignoring Haruto's sarcasm. "It came, then suddenly it left. It's come back, though, and I have a feeling that the Holy Student Council will be needed again very soon."
"Fine," Haruto said. "Tell Asahina to find and exorcise it."
"I'm telling you the world may be doomed and you're passing the buck?" the Chairman demanded.
"And you expect me to believe this is it when you keep telling us the full details after the fact?" Haruto countered.
"Well, I don't know anymore!" the Chairman shouted.
"Well, what do you want me to do about it, then?" Haruto shouted. "I don't have any spiritual powers! Kazumi and Asahina have them all!"
"YOU'RE THE PRESIDENT!" the Chairman roared, suddenly looming over him again. Haruto's chair fell back again.
Haruto sat up, blinking away the stars that danced in front of his eyes. "Not by choice," he mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head. "And besides, how is the council supposed to do anything about it if we don't know what we're up against? Up to now we've always waited for something to happen, then went out and fixed it."
The Chairman shrank down. "That's right, isn't it?" he said, rubbing his chin. He smiled abruptly. "Ja, then we'll just wait until it happens." He grinned, then floated through the door.
Haruto shook his head. "Why me?" he asked.
* * *
It wasn't until after lunch that Haruto could get back to daydreaming and imagining his ideal girlfriend. Shortly after the Chairman's confusing visit, there'd been another fiasco at the pool, this time involving some of the human-faced sea cucumbers and a teacher.
Then, before he could get back to the Holy Student Council room, Kazumi had been possessed by the spirit of a dog, and Haruto had been hard pressed to keep his friend from sniffing at the crotches of every single person they passed as they searched for Asahina. He'd had to actually put a leash on the other boy, sometimes forcefully dragging him away from his eager sniffing. He'd also had some close calls himself, as Kazumi had not infrequently turned and started nosing towards him. It had been utterly humiliating for the both of them, and it had gone on for an embarrassingly long time since Asahina had been practically impossible to find.
Now, though, he had the room to himself again, and he started to daydream again.
"She'll be relatively tall," he decided. "Probably taller than Asahina. But she won't be as...uh..." He felt himself flushing. "She won't be too much like Miss Hanako."
"Hai?" a voice called. softly.
"No!" Haruto cried. "You don't need to come here!"
He heard a slightly disappointed sigh, and his own breathing eased.
"That was close," he whispered. He swallowed, then let himself go back to his thoughts.
"She'll have a school uniform, of course," he said, "but outside of school she won't be wearing dresses. No, she'd look better in men's clothing, like dress pants and a collared shirt. Or maybe even a boy's school uniform."
Haruto pursed his lips. "She'll have a preference for solids, rather than prints," he said aloud. "And her favorite colors will be white and--"
The door burst open and Nino-kun rushed into the room. "Help!" the little boy cried as he ran past him.
"Nino-kun! What--"
Asahina appeared in the doorway, and Haruto barely jumped aside in time to avoid crashing into her as she raced around the table. "Nino!" she called sweetly. "I got these just for you, so won't you try them on?" She held up a pair of boy's underwear. Embroidered on the front was a cute puppy licking its paw.
"No!" Nino-kun wailed. "Mr. President, please make her stop!"
Haruto turned. "Asahina, quit pestering Nino-kun," he ordered. "Why should it matter if he wears what you give him or not? You won't be able to see it." He had hoped to appeal to her logic and better judgment, but her Shouta complex was in full swing.
"But I'll know that he's wearing it," she said, "and I'll have lots of fun imagining how he looks in them and seeing if I can sneak peeks at the puppy dog." Her grin turned vicious. "And besides, if I help him put them on, I won't just get to see how they look on him, I'll also get to see--"
"Help me!" Nino-kun cried as he turned and darted out the door.
"Nino-kun, come back!" Asahina called as she raced after him.
"Asahina, stop it!" Haruto shouted as he charged after her. "Leave him alone!"
* * *
Haruto didn't return to his imaginings until he was lying in bed that night. After an embarrassing chase all over the school--an ultimately futile chase since Nino-kun had ended up in the puppy dog underwear anyway--he'd been chased himself several times. First, one of the teachers had begun chasing him as he chased Asahina, shouting for him to tell Red Mantle not to bother the female students in his classes since they were taking tests that week. Then, on his way back to the council room, the Chairman had shown up with a possessed book. The book had flown up into the air and had flapped wildly after him, diving at him and hitting him with its covers. Then, after the book had been tricked into shelving itself in the library, Kazumi had shown up, possessed this time by a lion's ghost, and Haruto had several bite marks on his arm that precisely fit Kazumi's teeth to show for his troubles.
At home, he'd had a terrible time escaping from his father and his lecture on how to exorcise vampires and demons, a subject that his father had begun referring to ever since he'd asked him how to exorcise spirits. [Ep. 2] He hadn't paid much attention to his father's advice, especially since his instructions that first time hadn't helped at all. It had come in handy in defeating the demons that had escaped from the pool, but still...
Now, with his lights out and no one to bother him, Haruto could concentrate on imagining his ideal girlfriend. Maybe if he fell asleep thinking about this girl he'd have a pleasant dream about a future with her.
He yawned. "What color should her eyes be? Brown?" He shook his head. "No, not like Asahina's. But a color I've seen before. Blue-green like Kazumi's?" He winced, absently rubbing his arm. No, the eyes weren't that shade either. "Green?" His eyes widened, and he shook his head again. "Definitely not!" he said aloud, remembering a certain spirit-loving visitor who'd nearly wrenched his arm off.
"Then what shade?" he wondered to himself, closing his own eyes. "Gold?" he whispered. "No. Blue? No. Gray?" He yawned again. "No, that's not it. Red?" He yawned a third time. "Yes, red. She'll have red eyes." He smiled, then turned on his side and pulled the covers higher up.
All was silent for nearly a minute.
Haruto sat up abruptly, his eyes wide. Everything he'd thought about during the day returned to him.
Long hair lighter than pale blonde, or in other words, white? Tall enough to be better suited to a boy's school uniform than a girl's, with a preference for solid shades like white and another color? With red eyes?
The image flashed into his mind of his ideal girl. Only it wasn't a girl.
Red Mantle.
"I want to marry Red Mantle?" Haruto whispered. "He's the one I daydream about?"
He buried his face in his hands.
"Oh, my God," he moaned softly.
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