Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Humans are not the only ones in this world, other creatures that are considered supernatural also exist in the world, many deny this just because they have never seen or experienced it.

Like a very popular story about Kamiyama High School, the high school is an old building that was renovated again after a terrible incident a few years ago, after the renovation was completed, the principal set a rule that students, employees and teachers of Kamiyama High School must leave the school area before school hours end at 5 pm.

Many say that the rule was made to prevent something from happening to Kamiyama High School in the past, no one knows what the incident was, and this is proof that supernatural things exist ...

... at least that's what Rui told Tsukasa.

Tsukasa: "How long are you going to believe in superstitions like that Rui?, it's just a story that doesn't make sense"

Tsukasa replied while preparing books for the next class.

Rui: "You're no fun Tsukasa, things like this are what make our school days a little interesting"

Rui replied while doing the same thing.

Tsukasa: "Rather than taking care of unclear supernatural things, how about you lend me yesterday's homework"

Rui: "Huh, you haven't done it yet? ... that's rare "

Rui took the book from yesterday's homework and gave it to Tsukasa

Tsukasa: "Well I was a little busy yesterday ..."

Tsukasa replied while copying Rui's homework answers

Rui: "Busy on Thursday when we go home early?"

asked Rui curiously

Tsukasa:"Well that's... a bit personal"

Tsukasa tried to evade

Rui:"...well whatever, you better finish it before break time is over"

Tsukasa just nodded and immediately continued his work.

After break time was over, they immediately went to the chemistry lab to continue their last lesson of the day, Tsukasa and Rui were second year students, and second year students had chemistry lessons at the same time as first years.

In the chemistry lab

Tsukasa:"Last period is chemistry, what a bad day"

Rui:"Be a little optimistic, at least we join the first years, we can meet Akito, Toya, and Mizuki"

Tsukasa:"Just the three of them?, where's Shiraishi?"

Rui:"I heard from Toya that girl is sick"

A few moments later the first years arrived and the professor immediately started the lesson until the last period.

The school bell rang and the students immediately said goodbye to the professor and went home.

Tsukasa:"So tired... I don't understand the material at all"

Toya:"That's because you didn't listen at all, Tsukasa-senpai"

Mizuki:"You know it yourself, right? , chemistry is one of senpai's weaknesses"

Akito:"As if you're good at chemistry Mizuki"

Mizuki:"At least I'm self-aware, not acting smart like you Akito"

Akito:"What did you say!!!"

Rui: "Enough, stop fighting in the school hallway"

Akito just looked away with an annoyed face while Mizuki just grinned with a mischievous face.

When almost at the school exit

Tsukasa: "oh my gosh, I forgot to collect my assignment, you guys go first"

Rui: "okay then, we go first"

Toya: "senpai, do you want me to accompany you?"

Tsukasa: "no need, you guys have assignments to collect, I'll deliver them at the same time"

Mizuki: "oh oh me, leave it to you senpai, thanks"

Akito: "me too, leave it to you senpai"

Tsukasa: "yeah you're welcome, then I'll go first"

Tsukasa immediately returned to the school building to go to the teacher's room, when he arrived Tsukasa immediately went into the teacher's room because the door happened to be open. Tsukasa immediately looked for his teacher's desk and put his work on his teacher's desk, then Tsukasa looked for teachers from Akito and Mizuki's class to collect their assignments.

Tsukasa: "Where is Mr. Koshida, he's usually at his desk"

Tsukasa looked for Mr. Koshida in the room and in the school hallway before he found Mr. Koshida together with the principal talking to three people in the principal's office, one of the three people was a girl the same age as him with violet hair and eyes, the girl was wearing a uniform from another school, "A transfer student huh, that means the two people beside her are her parents" Tsukasa thought, thinking maybe Mr. Koshida was busy deciding to leave Akito and Mizuki's work on Mr. Koshida's desk before suddenly the principal called Tsukasa

Principal: "Tenma, are you the one outside? Come in for a moment"

Tsukasa felt nervous, he thought he might get scolded for eavesdropping, with trepidation Tsukasa entered the principal's office.

Tsukasa: "Yes, it's me, excuse me, principal and Mr. Koshida"
Tsukasa approached them

Principal: "What business do you have outside my office, Tenma?"

Tsukasa: "uhh... I'm looking for Mr. Koshida to hand over the work from Akito and Mizuki, they entrusted it to me"

Mr. Koshida: "I see, those naughty kids are late in submitting their assignments again, thank you for delivering them, Tenma"

Tsukasa: "Well, you're welcome, then I'll excuse myself-"

Principal: "Oh wait a minute Tenma, I want to ask for your help"

Tsukasa: "Uh of course principal, what kind of help?"

Principal: "Help for this new student, please introduce yourself, Asahina"

The girl who was sitting with her parents immediately stood up, her violet hair fluttered and looked very soft, even beautiful according to Tsukasa himself

Mafuyu: "Let me introduce myself, my name is Asahina Mafuyu and I am a transfer student from Miyamuzaka Academy, from now on I will be in the same class as you, please cooperate"

Mafuyu extended her hand to shake hands with a friendly smile, honestly Tsukasa was amazed by the girl's beauty and her nature seemed gentle, very Tsukasa's type of girl, with an awkward smile Tsukasa returned Mafuyu's handshake.

Tsukasa: "Well, nice to meet you, I'm Tenma Tsukasa"
A moment after Tsukasa exchanged handshakes with Mafuyu, he felt a cold and tense aura from Mafuyu, from the outside Mafuyu smiled softly even though what Tsukasa felt was the opposite.

The principal cleared his throat because he wanted their attention.

The principal: "Well, I need your help to invite Asahina and introduce her to a new school environment for her, can you do that Tenma?, and make sure you finish walking around before 5 pm, understand"

Tsukasa: "Yes, I understand, principal, then let's go Mafuyu"

Mafuyu turned to her parents to ask for permission

Mafuyu's mother: "You can go Mafuyu, rather than bothering the staff here, and also so that you know the layout of this school so as not to bother other people, can you do that for me?"

Mafuyu's mother said with a warm smile, although from Tsukasa's point of view it looked a bit strange

Mafuyu: "Yes, mother, I can do that"

Mafuyu's father: "Do that Mafuyu, we will settle the matter with the principal"

Mr. Koshida: "Then I'll take permission to go back to the teacher's room"

Tsukasa: "I also represent Mafuyu, please excuse me, principal"

Mr. Koshida returned to the teacher's room, while Tsukasa and Mafuyu went out and started a tour around the school for Mafuyu.

Mafuyu:"Sorry,It's been a bother to you "

Tsukasa:"It's okay, I'm free today anyway"

Mafuyu:"If I may ask, why did the principal emphasize that we have to be outside the school grounds before 5 pm?"

Tsukasa:"Oh about that, actually not many people know, even the principal never discusses that topic, but people say it's related to the supernatural, it's one of the popular rumors about this school and also this is one part of the tour, want to hear it?"

Mafuyu:"Hmm I'm a little interested, then would you like to tell me?"

To be continued

Chapter Text

The 5 pm rule was established right after the old building of Kamiyama High School was renovated into a new, functional building. Legend has it that there was a case of a student who went missing because they were inside the school area after operational hours. It is said that a student entered the school area after hours and got locked in for the night. However, the next day, when the student was searched for, there was no sign of them, and it was as if they had vanished into thin air. The school administration even made a statement that the student who was said to have gone missing had never actually attended the school or never existed in the first place.

The family and classmates of the missing student insisted that the student had indeed attended the school and had gone missing at Kamiyama High School. However, strangely, the school administration denied this. Since then, several similar incidents have occurred, where a student who accidentally stayed in the school area after 5 pm went missing the next day, and their existence seemed to be forgotten or erased. Even the family of the first missing student gradually forgot about the incident and assumed that nothing strange had happened.

From that point on, the school administration decided to renovate the old building of Kamiyama High School into a new building to eliminate the negative stigma about their school. And that's when they started enforcing the 5 pm rule.

Tsukasa:"That's more or less the rumor, you can choose to believe it or not, because well it's an old story, even I don't believe it myself."

Mafuyu:"Well that's quite interesting I think, but about the truth of the rumor, is it true or just a hoax?"

Tsukasa: "It's up to you, many people believe it, many don't."

Mafuyu: "Hmm... I'd rather focus on my studies than worry about weird stories like that."

Tsukasa: "That's the right choice, Miss Asahina. Better to ignore it. Now that I've shown you around the school, including your classroom, it's time for our last stop."

Tsukasa and Mafuyu arrived in front of the student council room, located near the school entrance, which was the final destination of their tour.

Tsukasa: "So, this is the student council room. Nothing special about it, just a regular student council room. But I'll tell you one thing: our school's student council president and vice president are former idols, Hinomori Shizuku and Momoi Airi."

Mafuyu: "Idols? Oh, really? I don't really follow that kind of thing, so I don't know."

Tsukasa: "Seriously? You don't know? I thought girls loved idols. Guess you're an exception."

Mafuyu: "Well, my mom asked me to focus on my studies, get good grades,And things like that so that my mother's wish comes true, namely that I become a doctor."

Tsukasa: "...I see. Your parents' wishes... not your own."

Mafuyu: "Is there something wrong with that?"

Tsukasa: "No, nothing like that. Forget it. Let's go before..."

Suddenly, the student council room door opened, and two people came out: the student council president, Hinomori Shizuku, and the vice president, Momoi Airi, a duo well-known throughout the school due to their idol past.

Tsukasa was surprised, while Mafuyu just looked at Tsukasa and the two girls in turn, not knowing who they were.

Shizuku: "Ara. Long time no see, Tsukasa. Who's this?"

Airi: "Huh, Shizuku, why did you stop-Oh, it's Tsukasa! And who's this?"

Shizuku: "Ah, let me guess. You're the transfer student the principal was talking about, right?"

Tsukasa: "That's right. This is Asahina Mafuyu, the transfer student in the same class as me."

Mafuyu: "Nice to meet you. I'm Asahina Mafuyu."

Shizuku: "Nice to meet you too, Mafuyu. I'm Hinomori Shizuku, and this is Momoi Airi."

Airi: "Nice to meet you, Mafuyu. By the way, why are you with Tsukasa at this time?"

Mafuyu: "Tsukasa is giving me a tour around the school so I won't get lost tomorrow."

Shizuku: "Oh, really? Tsukasa, you're being so helpful. That's not like you."

Airi: "Ha! Maybe Tsukasa has a crush on you, Mafuyu?"

Tsukasa: "Don't try to tease me. It's pointless. I volunteered because the principal asked me to, and I was in a good mood."Tsukasa answered in a flat tone even though there was a blush on his face.

Airi: "Whatever, Tsukasa. By the way, since you're both here, can we ask for your help?"

Mafuyu: "What do you need help with?"

Airi: "We need to move some old documents to the archive room, but we can't do it alone."

Tsukasa: "We're done with the tour, so I'm fine with helping. What about you, Mafuyu?"

Mafuyu: "Of course, we'll help. How many documents do we need to move?"

Shizuku: "There are a few big boxes. We've prepared everything,we just need to move them to the archive room."

Tsukasa and Mafuyu agreed to help. The four of them went to the room where the documents were stored and started moving the boxes to the archive room.

After a while, they finally finished moving all the documents. They all felt satisfied and relieved after completing the task.

"Thanks a lot, Tsukasa and Mafuyu!" Shizuku said with a smile. "We couldn't have done it without you."

Tsukasa: "No problem. It wasn't that much trouble."

Airi: "Thanks a lot, guys. We can finish this before 5 pm because of your help."

Mafuyu: "Do you guys really follow the 5 pm rule? Do you believe in the rumors?"

Shizuku: "I think the rumors are just rumors. I'm sure it's not true."

Airi: "We follow the rule because it's our duty as student council members to set an example for other students."

Tsukasa: "More like we're following the rule because we don't want something terrible to happen to us, even if the story is just a rumor. You never know if it might happen again."

Mafuyu: "You mean even if the rumor is just a rumor, the story about the incident might be true, and there's a possibility it could happen to us too?"

Shizuku: "Something like that. Anyway, we should get out of the school. It looks like it's getting late."

Tsukasa checked the time on his phone. "Oh no, it's almost 5 pm. Let's go."

The others nodded and followed Tsukasa to the school entrance. As they walked, the minutes ticked by, and the clock struck 5 pm. They reached the entrance, and Tsukasa grabbed the door handle to open it.

However, what they saw on the other side of the door was not what they expected. Instead of the schoolyard and the gate, they saw a long, endless road with ruins and trees surrounding it. Leaves covered the ground, and the atmosphere was eerie.

Tsukasa: "What... what is this?!"

Mafuyu: "What's going on? Isn't this supposed to be the schoolyard?"

Shizuku: "Yes, this door should lead to the schoolyard, but..."

Airi: "This isn't the schoolyard we know... Where are we?"

As they stood there in confusion, they heard heavy footsteps coming from inside the school, approaching them. The footsteps sounded ominous, and they could sense a strange aura emanating from them.

The figure making the footsteps slowly came into view. It was a man in a suit, but he had pointed ears, fangs, and a tail. Despite his unusual appearance, they felt a sense of familiarity.

Tsukasa: "Wait a minute... Principal?"

Principal: "Oh dear, I told you all to leave before 5 pm. Some of you just can't follow rules."

The students were confused, and the principal seemed calm despite the strange surroundings.

Shizuku: "Is that really you, Principal? Where are we?"

Principal: "This is me, the version of me from this strange world . We're in a world after school."

To be continued

Chapter Text

This event occurred before the high school building was renovated. At that time, people still believed in supernatural things like ghosts, spirits, Yokai, and even gods. Japan has long believed in the supernatural, and according to their beliefs, Japan was created by a pair of gods, Izanagi and Izanami. These two gods descended to the world and created life and death, and so on until humans were created. Humans worshiped these gods and made them a kind of belief that had to be passed down to their children and grandchildren. However, this belief was eventually forgotten over time. Nevertheless, their existence is real. Humans live alongside things they don't know about, and if there is life, there is death. If humans are the existence of life, then there must be an existence for death, and that is Yokai.

That's what happened at the old Kamiyama High School, the old building had been standing for a long time, even after the war, and it was left abandoned for a while before it started operating as a school again. During that time, something crazy happened. Somehow, a gateway between the world of the living and the world of death opened for a moment, and this phenomenon is the main reason why students could mysteriously disappear, and their existence seemed to be forgotten.

The world after school, that's what "they" call this place. A world that appears exactly after school hours, at 5 pm. In less than a second, a gateway between the world of the living and the world of death opens and brings anyone in the school area to this place. This world, dimension, or whatever it is, was created because the spirits and Yokai have been dwelling in this school building for a long time. The existence of life and death is real and lives alongside each other, but they are not allowed to see each other because their worlds are separated.

It's the same as what happened with the Japanese creation gods, Izanagi is the existence of life, while Izanami is the existence of death, and they are separated in the human world and the demon world. They are separated by different worlds, just like humans are separated from Yokai. That's the beginning, that's the rule, that's this place, the world of death, the world of the supernatural, where spirits and Yokai dwell.

Welcome to the "world after school".

The four of them were silent after hearing the explanation from the figure they believed to be their principal. They were confused, amazed, panicked, and couldn't believe what they had just heard.

Shizuku: "Principal, is what you're saying true?"

Airi: "This place is the world of the dead..."

Tsukasa: "And we were brought here because we broke the rules."

Mafuyu: "So... the rumors about the supernatural are true, not just nonsense?"

Principal: "It's all true, that's why I prioritize the rules so much, I don't want this to happen again."

They all fell silent again before the principal spoke again.

Principal: "And one more thing, humans who enter this place rarely come back alive."

"...Huh?......Whaaattttt?!?!...."

Principal: "...You're being too loud, don't worry, you guys are lucky to have me here, I can help you get back to the human world."

Tsukasa: "Wait, what do you mean, Principal? You can get us out of here? How?"

Principal: "Just follow me, I'll show you the way. Along the way, I'll also explain about my appearance. Come on, my students, follow me."

The principal started walking out of the school building, and the four of them followed him. Outside the building, the scenery looked strange. There were many ruins and buildings, and the roads were covered with fallen leaves, creating a peaceful yet eerie atmosphere.

Principal: "As I said before, it's rare for humans to leave this place alive. It's because humans can't leave without the help of the Yokai who dwell here. And before you ask, I made a contract with one of the Yokai so that I can come and go from this place freely and safely. That's why my appearance is like this."

Tsukasa: "Okay... I think I'm starting to understand, although it sounds like a wild story..."

Shizuku: "Even if we don't want to believe it, we can't deny what we see here."

Airi: "Shizuku is right, no matter how much I wish it, what we're experiencing is real."

Mafuyu: "...Principal, what do you mean by making a contract with Yokai?"

Tsukasa: "Oh yeah, you mentioned that earlier. So, what does making a contract mean?"

Principal: "As I said, I made a contract with Yokai so that I can enter and leave this place freely and safely, to anticipate if any students break the 5 pm rule, like you guys."

Shizuku: "So, you've been knowing the truth about this place and covering it up with the 5 pm rule?"

Airi: "Why didn't you just explain it directly? Maybe no students would have broken the rule."

Suddenly, the principal burst out laughing with a heavy and eerie voice.

Principal: "You think I haven't tried that? I've done it before, but it was pointless. They thought I was crazy."

Tsukasa: "Haa... why is that?"

Mafuyu: "It's because society no longer believes in supernatural things and the existence of Yokai. They choose to forget about it and move on from what they consider outdated beliefs. Maybe that's why something supernatural is considered taboo by society."

Principal: "Your answer is more or less correct. By the way, we've arrived. This is the gate to the human world."

They stopped in front of a large Torii gate ruin, and in the middle of the ruin, there was a gap with a bright light emanating from it, as if indicating that it was the path to the human world. And indeed, it was.

Tsukasa: "A Torii gate, just like in the story of Izanagi and Izanami."

Principal: "It seems you know about it. This is the place. Now, hurry up and return before any Yokai sense your presence and start gathering."

Shizuku: "So, should we enter together?"

Airi: "Yeah, let's do it together."

The two of them started walking forward, followed by Mafuyu and Tsukasa. Shizuku and Airi stepped through the gate simultaneously, and their bodies seemed to transform into particles, slowly disappearing as they returned to the Human World.

Principal: "It seems they've successfully returned safely. You two, hurry up."

Mafuyu: "But Principal, what about you?"

Principal: "I've already told you, I can enter and exit this place freely because of the Yokai's power within me. Now, hurry up and return."

Tsukasa: "Alright, let's go, Mafuyu."

Tsukasa offered his hand to Mafuyu, and Mafuyu grasped it tightly as they began walking towards the Torii gate. However, as they approached, something happened. A powerful energy seemed to reject Mafuyu, not allowing her to pass through, while Tsukasa was unaffected.

Mafuyu: "Ugh... what's... what's happening?"

Tsukasa: "Principal, what's going on? Why can't Mafuyu pass through?"

The principal's expression suddenly turned worried.

Principal: "I don't know... Oh no, this can't be happening. How is this possible?"

Tsukasa: "What's wrong, Principal? What's happening to Mafuyu?"

Principal: "Mafuyu's body... no, more precisely, Mafuyu's soul... half of her soul is not in her body."

"...WHAT?!?!?!?!"

TO BE CONTINUED