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.
Fortunately for Haruto, the next three weeks were, oddly enough, rather uneventful. What little spirit activity there was--it was Saito High, after all--wasn't of the life-threatening, property damaging, world destroying kind. Other than the man-faced fish saving a student who'd been pulled into the pool by the drowning ghost, there was nothing remotely interesting to report.
It was the kind of quiet that Haruto welcomed, and not even all the Chairman's warnings of "the quiet before the storm" could disturb his sense of satisfaction.
It was the kind of quiet that Haruto welcomed, because it was easier to avoid his friends now than if they were always scrambling to solve one problem after another. And because of his sessions with Red Mantle, avoiding his friends was something he definitely desired.
Ever since that first day, he and Red Mantle had fallen into a routine. It had taken Haruto three days to shake off the effects of gazing at Red Mantle's beautiful face, during which time he'd worked at adding confidence and intensity to his gaze by practicing: namely, staring hard at his reflection in the mirror. He usually had to stop after ten minutes or so, since trying to focus in on one of his eyes--with his reflection doing the same thing--gave him a headache.
On the next day, Haruto returned to school and, after listening to Red Mantle's instructions and suggestions, he tried staring into the spirit's eyes without weakening. However, the moment Red Mantle lifted his hand to his face and drew away the mask, Haruto lost himself in the spirit's beauty, unable to look away from the spirit's flawless face. Each time Haruto fell hopelessly in love with Red Mantle again, and would remain so until the next third day, when the whole thing started all over again.
Although he hated to abuse the privilege, Haruto had absented himself from all his classes, only marginally reassured that he would still get credit for them. This way no one would notice that the President of the Holy Student Council was walking around in the same sort of love struck daze that regularly affected all the girls in school. And, since that sort of daze was far different from the ones that affected the boys in school--especially those who'd had run-ins with any of the Miss Hanakos--everyone would soon know that something was up with the president. So Haruto had retreated to the Holy Student Council room.
He was relatively safe there. Asahina only made brief appearances, distracted as she was by the attractions that the roof of the school and a pair of high-powered binoculars offered...especially when they were trained on an elementary school filled with young boys. Kazumi popped in more frequently, but since he was almost always possessed by one spirit or another, he paid little attention to the president. And although the Chairman dropped in regularly--at the beginning and ending of every school day--he was on another binge of buying occult-related paraphernalia. The only others who might have understood what was happening, Toilet Hanako and Nino-kun, had their own business to tend to: flirting with boys and whatever it was that a walking statue masquerading as a little boy did during his free time.
At the end of the third week, Red Mantle said, "Mr. President, you've been making excellent progress. I don't think we need to do this anymore."
Haruto sighed. "How could I possibly be making progress? I still can't look you in the eyes without falling in love with you."
"Ah," Red Mantle said, "but each time it takes slightly longer for you to start blushing."
Haruto felt himself flushing. "But that means I'm failing!"
"Remember, Mr. President, I'm a spirit," Red Mantle pointed out. "It would take you an eternity to be able to look me in the eyes without blushing. But if you were to apply everything you learned to a living person, you'll have no problems."
Haruto sighed again. "I guess I'll just have to take your word for it."
"Of course." Red Mantle reached up to his mask. "Are you ready for the final test?"
"Wait!" Haruto said quickly. "Ne, will you do me a favor?"
"Anything, Mr. President."
Haruto swallowed. "I guess...well, over the past three weeks we've come to know each other pretty well, haven't we?"
Red Mantle nodded. "I'd guess so. Yes, we have."
"Well, would you please stop calling me 'Mr. President'? It doesn't feel right somehow."
"But you are the president," Red Mantle pointed out.
"I know!" Haruto sighed. "But please, will you just call me 'Haruto' instead?"
A smile filled with pearly white teeth shone at him. "I'd be honored," the spirit said, bowing, "Haruto."
Haruto felt a strange warmth run through him as the spirit...okay, he's my friend, he finally admitted to himself...spoke his name aloud. Then he shivered as Red Mantle reached up for his mask again.
"Are you ready?"
Haruto took a deep breath and nodded.
This time he lasted a full second before he began blushing.
* * *
The lessons were over, and Haruto no longer called on Red Mantle for personal assistance. The effects of the last session had finally faded, and Haruto finally worked up the nerve to start walking in the halls again.
If people noticed something different about him, then they were keeping quiet about it. No one said anything about whether he looked more confident or whether he was still blushing.
Of course, maybe that would have changed if Haruto had walked around when other students were around.
Finally, with the school's spirits still at peace--or at least limiting themselves to harmless pranks--and no other outside spirits threatening the fate of the world, Haruto ran out of excuses why he couldn't mingle with the other students.
He did everything that Red Mantle had told him to do. He stood up straight and tall when he walked, his chin up and his shoulders back. He forced himself to look straight ahead, turning his head only marginally from side to side to look at things that caught his interest. He made himself walk as though he had a purpose to fulfill or a place to get to. But he was careful to always keep a slight grin on his face, to indicate that, though he might have some place to go, he was willing to stop and talk.
At first he didn't notice anything different in the way people moved out of his way. It seemed to be the same as before. Then he saw the strange looks people were shooting at him as he passed, and saw them whispering to each other while pointing at him.
"Ne, sempai," Kazumi said one day after Asahina had just exorcised a duck's spirit out of him. "You aren't on drugs or anything are you?"
Haruto blinked. "Huh? Why do you ask?"
"Well, for the past couple of days you've been going around with this strange smile on your face," Asahina said.
"Your expression is like what Mutsuki gets when she's staring at the boys in the elementary school," Nino-kun said.
"It is not!" Asahina snapped.
Haruto sighed.
The next day, he tried keeping a stern frown on his face. People continued to melt out of his way, but now it seemed as if they were practically running from him.
Confused, Haruto paused by a fountain and looked into the mirror above it.
Just at that moment, Mirror Girl appeared in the glass. She took one look at him, gave a short shriek, and disappeared.
Haruto sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I'll never get it," he moaned.
* * *
Haruto was walking towards the front entrance when a boy ran past him, slamming into his shoulder and sending him bouncing off the wall.
"Watch where you're going!" the boy snapped. "Hey!" Haruto shouted angrily. "It was your fault!"
The boy stopped and stared back at him. Then he stormed over. Haruto noticed abruptly that the boy was about a head taller than him and definitely more muscular. "What did you say?" the boy hissed, his eyes narrowed.
Haruto returned the glare, ignoring the height difference. "I said it was your fault," Haruto said stonily. "You're not supposed to be running in the halls."
The boy started to retort, but his expression suddenly became confused. "Right," he said hesitantly, backing away. He turned and, after another glance back at him, continued on his way at a fast walk.
Haruto remained where he was, staring after the boy until he turned a corner. Then, his knees weak, he sagged against the wall.
"Did I do that?" he said to himself softly. "Did I actually stand up to someone bigger and stronger than me?"
"Excuse me?" a voice called.
Haruto pushed himself up from the wall and turned. "Yes?" he began, then stopped.
Standing at the base of the stairs was a girl. She had long honey-colored hair that stretched down to her waist. Two bright green eyes gazed up at him under long eyelashes. She was at least as tall as Asahina, though probably shorter than Kazumi.
He started down the steps. "Can I help you?"
"Well," the girl began slowly, "I was wondering if you could tell me a little about this school."
"You're new here, aren't you?" he asked. "Your uniform is different."
"Oh, my family will be moving into this area next month, so I came up early to look at all the local schools."
"I see," Haruto said. "Well, first of all, how do you feel about spirits?"
Her eyes widened. "You have school spirits here?" she asked.
"Well, a few," Haruto said, balking at revealing the actual truth about the school.
"That's great!" the girl cried. "I don't think there were any spirits at my last school!"
Haruto's jaw dropped. "You like spirits?" he asked, dumbfounded.
"Of course!" the girl said. "I used to live near a cemetery, and there were always these spirits floating around, especially around obon. I haven't seen any since we moved from there."
"Well, you'll see a lot of spirits around here," he said. "You may not even realize that they're spirits."
"Oh, please, will you give me a tour?" she said, latching on to his arm. Haruto's eyes widened and he cringed away at her sudden eagerness. "I'm sure you can show me where each one haunts, right?"
"I...I guess I could," Haruto admitted. Inwardly, he wanted to get far away from the girl. She was worse than Asahina and Kazumi combined. They at least simply dealt with the spirits that popped up. She wanted to actually find them and meet them.
"Sugoi!" the girl cried. "Oh, my name is Himeko, by the way. You won't get into trouble for showing me around, will you?"
"Oh, no," Haruto said, feeling sick to his stomach. "I have special permission from the administration to miss classes on occasion."
"Great!" The girl started down the hall, dragging Haruto after her. "So where do we begin? I bet your science labs have some interesting spirits there, don't they?"
"Well, yes," Haruto said, "but most of those don't come out until night. Some of the spirits at the pool are--"
"Water spirits!" the girl cried. "That's terrific! Do you have a kappa there? Or how about a mermaid? Do you have a--"
"Oh, my God," Haruto groaned.
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