There is no shortage of books in the world that seek to enthrall the reader with fantastical stories of supernatural beings. These books are widely regarded as fairy tales for the entertainment of small children. But, on rare occasion, one might discover a book which emphatically insists that the beings from these stories are not inventions of human imagination, but truly did exist.

This type of book - often at the cost of the author's credibility and reputation - makes the outlandish claim that mankind once shared the world with a wide variety of supernatural creatures who existed in significant numbers. However, these creatures could only subsist on human flesh, making co-existence impossible. Thus, the creatures were hunted down, nearly to complete extinction.

Because these supernatural creatures disintegrated upon death, no credible physical evidence of their existence remains, aside from a small number of contemporary paintings that allegedly depict these creatures, and written accounts of supposed encounters with these creatures - all of which have long been debunked and discredited by academic communities.

And yet, despite the dubious nature of these claims, there are those who choose to believe them. "Occult Researchers" - existing in small numbers, shunned by the rest of society - dedicate their lives to seeking empirical evidence of demons, ghosts, succubi, vampires, zombies, and any other type of supernatural being that is regarded as fictional by the rest of society.

According to the legends that these researchers believe, these supernatural beings posed such a threat to mankind that grand academies were built to teach young men and women the skills they would need to slay monsters - including, by some accounts, actual magic spells. As usual, there is no physical evidence to support the notion that these "monster slayer academies" truly existed.

Supposedly, Japan was once terrorized by paranormal beasts known as "Oni" until the 1800s, when a pair of elite monster slayers from the west arrived in Japan through supernatural means, and became almost single-handedly responsible for wiping out the entire monster population. This claim is not taken seriously by the Occult Research community, who have found countless holes in the story.

Regardless of what is true or untrue, there is a portion of the population - however small - who remains convinced that supernatural creatures not only exist, but sometimes walk among us, masquerading as humans. Succubi and vampires - the most humanoid of all supernatural beings - have the highest chance of escaping notice...if one chooses to believe in such things in the first place.

It is said that the only way to identify a non-human is to examine their pupils for unusual shapes...but, with the rising popularity of Saikou-brand cosmetic contact lenses, it is increasingly common for people to display unusually shaped pupils, thus making it unconventional to attempt to "identify a supernatural being" by simply pointing out the shape of a person's pupils.

Sakyu Basu and her younger half-sister, Inkyu Basu, are a pair of young women who recently enrolled in Akademi. Their scores on the entrance exam were exceptionally high, as if they possessed knowledge far beyond their apparent ages. However, after classes began, their academic performance dropped to an average level, as if they were attempting to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

Sakyu's calm and mature nature contrasts greatly against the energetic and childlike behavior of her younger sister. Although both young women are friendly enough when approached by others, they usually keep to themselves, preferring each other's company above anything else. Despite their friendly demeanor, there are many students at Akademi who feel inexplicably intimidated by them.

When asked why they chose to attend Akademi, they always provide the same answer: "We're looking for something." This woefully short reply is far too vague to adequately satisfy the curiosity of anyone who wants to learn more about them. However, no matter how much they are begged to elaborate, they refuse to say anything more about their intentions at Akademi.

It may be worth noting that, on one occasion, when asked why she chose to attend Akademi, Inkyu misspoke. Instead of giving the usual answer - "We're looking for something" - she instead said something else:

"We're looking for someone."