The problem with creating a human body from scratch is that you forget humans need to breathe.
Aka realized this exactly 2.3 seconds after materializing in the school bathroom, when his newly formed lungs started screaming for air. He gasped—an entirely novel sensation—and watched his reflection in the mirror.
Jet black hair, messy in a way he hoped looked intentional. Deep black eyes that... okay, those still looked a bit too much like staring into an abyss, but close enough.
"Stop that," he told his reflection. The faint sensation of wrongness radiating from him faded.
The bathroom door slammed open.
"AKA! You're doing it again!" Saka burst in, golden hair catching the fluorescent light. His golden eyes were wide with exasperation. "Your existence is making the building creak. The building, Aka. Buildings aren't supposed to be aware of dread."
"I'm breathing now," Aka said defensively.
"Isn't that human enough?"
"You're breathing backwards."
"Oh."
Faya walked through the door—the open door this time, Aka noted with approval—her amber eyes scanning a crumpled paper covered in notes. Her lemon-yellow hair fell around her brown shoulders as she looked up.
"Okay," she announced. "Attempt forty-seven. New rules: Aka, breathe in then out. Saka, stop making your hair do that glowing thing. And I'll actually remember to knock instead of just... knowing what's on the other side."
"My hair doesn't—"
"It literally is right now."
Saka touched his head. The subtle golden shimmer faded. "Fine."
"Right." Faya checked an elaborate watch. "School starts in five minutes. The objective: attend one full day of classes without causing an apocalypse, minor reality breach, or getting expelled. Again."
"That was one time," Aka protested.
"Forty-six times," Faya corrected. "We've reset forty-six times because someone—" she looked pointedly at Aka, "—keeps accidentally unmaking the math teacher when he explains calculus."
"He said infinity was a concept. I took offense."
"YOU CAN'T TAKE ONTOLOGICAL OFFENSE AT HIGH SCHOOL MATH!"
The bathroom lights flickered. The mirror cracked slightly.
All three of them froze.
"...See?" Saka whispered. "This is what I mean about the dread thing."
Aka took a careful breath. In, then out. The lights stabilized. He ran a hand through his black hair, trying to look casual.
"Okay," he said. "Okay. Attempt forty-seven. We've got this. We're just three normal students who—"
The bell rang.
"—are late," Faya finished. "Great. Human experience: acquired."
They stood there for a moment, three cosmic entities in teenage bodies, staring at each other.
"Do we... run?" Saka asked, his golden eyes uncertain.
"Humans run when late, yes," Faya confirmed, absently twirling a strand of yellow hair.
"Right. Running. I can do running."
Aka opened the bathroom door like a normal person. Small victories.
"This is going to be a long day," Faya muttered, following him out.
It was going to be the best day of their infinite existence.