In the morning, Kala was already on the rooftop, staring at his phone, looking at a picture of Kaze's gang taken in front of the villa.
"The shadow's gone. How? Is this an editing error or what? I swear I was the only one who could see that shadow behind Asta."
"Well, you are an esper," replied Gantha, who had just arrived.
"You didn't see the shadow either?" said Kala.
"What a shadow?" asked Gantha.
"There was a shadow of someone behind Asta. I saw it yesterday, but now it's gone," said Kala.
"Does that mean danger?" said Gantha.
Kala nodded. "Danger's getting closer. Especially since my friend told me yesterday that I'm being followed by something that looks like me."
"Hold on, I don't get it. So that means you'll get hit by misfortune too? Like Asta or Melvin?" said Gantha.
Kala fell silent for a moment. "Until now, I still can't conclude who exactly is going to be affected."
Gantha remembered Kala teasing him yesterday. Whether it was a clue or not, he decided to tell Kala what he saw.
"Yesterday I saw Melvin walk past my house like a zombie. That's all," said Gantha.
"Why is it that you keep seeing Melvin's figure while I keep seeing Asta's?" said Kala, confused.
"Asta?" said Gantha.
"I saw him in a dream. He was standing in the snow. Cold… and snow usually means loneliness and isolation," said Kala.
"In my opinion, it's obvious—you and those two are going to get hit by something," said Gantha.
"Me for sure, but Asta and Melvin… today I saw Asta's sign disappear. Maybe he won't get hit after all," said Kala.
"My idea: let's call them together now, and you tell them about being an esper. Use your ability to find out what's really going on," said Gantha.
"I already did a reading last night, but everything was dark. I couldn't see anything, and that's why I'm stressed right now," said Kala.
"Let's just go meet the others and see how they're doing," said Gantha.
"Alright, let's go."
The two immediately walked toward the rooftop door and headed down the stairs.
~~~~~~
The dance practice room was unusually quiet; only Dion and Melvin were there.
They sat on the floor after practicing for a while, stretching a bit and taking a break.
"Damn, I'm exhausted. Being an old teenager sucks," said Dion.
"You're old," Melvin scoffed.
"Look in the mirror, idiot," said Dion.
"Shut up, dumbass," said Melvin, turning toward the mirror.
Dion stood up to look for the AC remote because the room felt too warm, especially since he was sweating.
His eyes scanned the room for the remote, but suddenly Melvin spoke, causing Dion to turn around.
"Dion, let's go back to class."
"What's wrong, Vin?" Dion saw his friend frozen in front of the mirror, his voice trembling in fear.
"I-I'll tell you later. Not here," Melvin slowly turned toward Dion, fear written all over his face.
"You're so annoying. Just tell me right here," said Dion.
Melvin instinctively shook his head. His breathing was shaky; he was clearly terrified, and thankfully Dion realized it.
"Alright, let's go back. We can continue later," said Dion.
They walked together toward the door, but before reaching it, the lights suddenly went out. Panic set in because they couldn't see anything.
"Dion, you brought your phone, right?" asked Melvin.
"I left mine in the classroom," Dion replied while feeling around for his friend. "Where are you, Vin?"
Soon their hands brushed—finally finding each other.
"I'm scared as hell. It's broad daylight," said Melvin.
"Why is it so dark? There's a window, but the sunlight feels like it can't get in," said Dion.
"Yeah, but thankfully I brought my phone," said Melvin, turning on his flashlight. Light shone from the phone.
"Let's get out of here. It'll get suffocating if we stay," said Dion.
But when Melvin pointed his phone forward, he suddenly dropped it. Dion realized Melvin was no longer beside him.
"Vin, where are you?" Dion panicked, searching for his friend, until he stepped on something. He crouched to feel it.
A hand?
"Vin, what happened? Please don't joke around."
Dion found the phone lying not far away. He crouched to grab it, but another hand grabbed his wrist holding the phone.
"Melvin? Is that you?" Dion trembled.
"Whose hand did you step on earlier, then? He's already crossed over to another realm. You want to follow him?"
Before Dion could react, someone struck him on the back of the head. Dion fell to the floor. He managed to turn slightly, searching for who else was there, but a blinding light hit his eyes.
"Oh, you're still conscious?"
A hand grabbed his hair and slammed his head hard onto the floor. This time, Dion lost consciousness.
~~~~~
Yoga experienced something similar while at the library with Yoan.
They often came here to borrow or read books on the spot.
But today was unlucky—right when Yoga reached an exciting part of a story, the lights went out.
"Tch, what the hell? Why out of nowhere? There's no way our school didn't pay the electricity bill," Yoga complained.
"Relax, it'll turn on soon," Yoan said, turning on his phone's flashlight. "I'm gonna return this book real quick. Don't leave yet."
"Hm," Yoga replied shortly.
Yoan walked slowly toward one of the bookshelves. On the way back, he heard something.
"Yoga, you're still in your spot, right?" said Yoan.
"Of course. I'm waiting for you," said Yoga.
"Hide under the table. The table we were reading at has a lower section—you can hide there."
There was some worry in his voice.
"What? Why hide?" Yoga asked, confused.
"Just do what I said. Hurry!" said Yoan.
"What the hell," said Yoga.
"Hurry, Yoga!" Yoan snapped.
"Fine, fine," Yoga grumbled, still confused. But he followed instructions and hid under the table.
Meanwhile, Yoan pressed himself tightly to the bookshelf, trying not to be seen.
Amid the silence, the strange sound grew closer—right in front of the library door.
Yoan tilted his head slightly to peek at the source of the noise. He saw a figure in a black cloak walking past the library, face expressionless, dragging a katana on the ground.
"Yon, you still putting the book back?"
Yoan's heart dropped when Yoga's voice came. Yoga even started walking slowly to find him. Yoan turned toward the cloaked figure, who had turned back and seemed ready to enter the library.
"Don't move, Yoga. Don't make a sound!" Yoan ordered.
"What are you talking about? I seriously don't get you. You act like we're in some danger," Yoga complained, feeling around the darkness for the table.
"We are in an danger. Just stay still or something bad will happen," said Yoan.
"You're pranking me, aren't you? Using the blackout as an excuse? So lame," said Yoga, ignoring him. He didn't return to the table and instead headed toward the door.
"What are you doing, idiot? I told you to stay still!" Yoan hissed, voice trembling from fear and frustration.
"You're the idiot. If it's an emergency, we should find an exit, not just sit still," Yoga retorted.
"That's not what I meant," Yoan said.
"Then what? You're warning me without any explanation," said Yoga.
Yoan didn't answer immediately. He glanced toward the door and didn't see the figure. Had it left that quickly? He was sure it was about to enter earlier.
"Yoga."
"What."
Without turning, Yoan tried to focus all his senses. He heard metal scraping against the floor again—this time, right near where Yoga had just spoken.
He rushed toward his friend.
"Yoga!"
"Hah? Wha—agh!"
Yoan pulled Yoga down, but too late—the katana grazed the back of Yoga's neck.
"I told you!" Yoan yelled.
"You never said what the danger was! And now my neck is bleeding, man, the hell—" Yoga pressed his hand against the wound.
"He has a katana," Yoan pulled his friend to run.
"Who the hell is he?" Yoga said.
"The cloaked figure. I don't know who… but he looks like Asta," Yoan replied.
"Huh? No way. That soft-spoken guy suddenly wielding a katana?" said Yoga.
"How should I know, idiot," Yoan dragged his friend as they sneaked away to escape the figure.
Step by step, they moved until they reached a door nearby. They opened it quickly.
Outside, everything was normal. The lights were bright, and sunlight streamed through the windows.