"Questions? anyone?" The female Math teacher's eyes scanned the classroom. "No more?" She sighed when she saw that only a few students were listening.

"Then class dismissed!" Used to the worst class's attitude, she packed her things, erased the writings on the board, and then headed out to her next class.

Bang!

Sei was half asleep on her desk when she heard her teacher slam the door shut. Thanks to her lively classmates, the classroom was plunged in chaos seconds after their teacher left.

Sei shook her head, she can no longer sleep in peace. She looked at the class schedule on her phone. "One more..." It looks like she needs to endure one more class. She yawned and stretched her arms in the air.

At the same time, she heard someone call her name. "Sei!!" Turning her head at the voice's direction, Sei sees Aku's hand gesturing for her to come to the front. While talking with a bunch of boys around her.

Sei looks at her black watch. There are still fifteen minutes before the next teacher. Since she can't sleep, she might as well chat with Aku to pass the time.

Sei stood up from her chair then strode towards them.

She can hear their voices clearly as she gets closer. "Aku, is Sei joining the test?" A boy in her class asked Aku.

Test? What test are they talking about? They just took their exams last week, so it is definitely not related to academics.

"Hey, what test??" Sei gently grabbed a random boy's shoulder from the bunch and asked.

Seeing Sei's deadly gaze, and cold breath the boy looked away from her eyes to his friends, asking for help.

"It's a test of courage." Aku butt in before Sei could hurt the poor guy. Aku turned her head away when her eyes met Sei's questioning gaze.

"I lost a bet against them..." Aku mumbled in the air.

"Huh?? I didn't hear you." Sei let go of the poor boy's shoulder and sat beside Aku.

"I lost a bet..." Aku was sweating anxiously. She hesitated whether she should tell Sei or not.

"And??" Seeing the hesitation in her eyes, Sei can only figure things out on her own.

If it's a test of courage, the only thing she can think of at the top of her head is visiting haunted places since today is Halloween. But there is no such place in their area. Besides, although Aku looks tough, one thing she's scared of the most is a ghost. So she'll decline anything related to ghosts.

Then...

"They asked you to do a test of courage for Halloween in school tonight? So you're asking me to accompany you because you are not brave enough to do it?" Although there is no news of their school being haunted, it is still scary for anyone to wander at night.

"Wow!!" Sei heard a gasp behind.

"How did you find out??" Sei ignored the guy's question.

Aku turned her head away when Sei figured everything out on her own.

Seeing Aku's guilty eyes and the other boy's reaction, then her guess is more or less correct.

"It's only a few minutes. We won't stay long, I promise." Aku looked at her with pleading eyes. Since Sei found out, then there's no need to hesitate.

Sigh!

"Didn't I tell you not to hang out with these scumbags?"

"What, scumbags! It was a fair bet!" Kasuba, their leader, refuted her.

"Right!!"

"It's not even a hard request!!" The boy's supported Kasuba.

"Hmph, not hard?" Sei looked directly into their eyes. "Then, her rejecting it is not a big deal? Right? right??!!" Any woman who wanders the street and goes home late at night just asks for danger.

The boys around her backed away in fear when Sei raised her voice.

Kasuba bit his lower lip; for some reason, he felt his heart throbbing. Did he get scared just from her stare? A stare from a little girl?

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"No, Sei, it's not a big deal." Aku held back Sei's arm. "I can handle it as long as I have some company. Ten minutes just ten minutes, then we will leave right away. I promise." Aku raised her right hand with her fingers crossed

Sigh!!

Sei shook her head. "Sounds like a you problem."

Sei stood up and suggested before leaving. "Reject them or find someone else. There's no point in telling her to reject them. After all, Aku is a woman of her word. If she accepts her request, Aku will never learn to reject them.

Sei's classmates who where in her way instinctively move aside to make way for her. They knew not to mess every time Sei is annoyed with anything.

Sei returned to her seat, grabbed her phone and earphone picked a random anime outro song, maxed the volume, then tried to sleep on her desk again.

"Sei..." Aku bit her lower lip. If Sei says no, then it's a no. She had already asked everyone aside from her, but everyone was scared. Looking at everyone's eyes around her, she instantly knows she doesn't have the courage to reject them.

Guess she'll suffer on her own tonight...

...

Time passed their last subject ended.

Sei slept through the whole session, so she was full of energy when she woke up. She grabbed her bag and umbrella, planning to go home early.

She looked in Aku's direction one last time, and just as she expected, the bunch of scumbags was still crowding around her.

Sigh...

How troublesome... Looks like they are proceeding with the plan. Sei hoped that Aku would change her mind if she rejected her. But she's too stubborn.

Aku watched as Sei pass by her and left the classroom without even looking back.

"Aku, don't worry it's only ten minutes then we will go home right away," Kasuba reassured her.

"Yeah, we've done this so many times and nothing happened."

"That's right, in fact, you can't even call it a test of courage because the school is so boring at night."

Everyone encouraged Aku so that she won't back out.

With no way to back out now, Aku can only agree to the punishment and pray that she survive the night.

"Let's go play at the internet cafe, there's still a lot of time before night comes," Kasuba suggested.

Aku reluctantly agreed.

The group of nine then left the school and entered a nearby internet.

While Sei, who was watching them from a distance, entered a convenience store.

...

Soon the night sky enveloped the streets aglow with the bright city lights.

The school guard pulled the keys from his pocket on the silent school ground. Then, after sweeping his eyes on the surroundings with his flashlight one last time, he closed the gates and locked them.

The group of nine watching from a distance began moving after the guard went home.

"Let's go there's a small wall behind the school's canteen side that you can climb to enter." Kasuba led the group.

It is too late to back out now, so Aku follows after them.

The group arrived at a 1-meter-tall wall in front of them.

Aku also knows this spot because there is always someone guarding this entrance. After all, students use it to cut classes.

As long as your body is fit enough, anyone can climb over, and a chair is enough to help anyone climb over.

"Here." Kasuba pulled a foldable chair out of his backpack and placed it in front. "Go on."

"You can do it Aku!!"

"Don't worry we have your back."

"Aren't you guys coming with me?" Aku questioned Kasuba.

Kasuba shook his head.

"The foldable chair will break with everyone's weight here. Besides, it will be boring if everyone comes in. So we will watch here just in case someone comes." Kasuba reasoned out.

"If you are scared to move around you can sit behind the wall and chat with us for ten minutes. We will count it as a test of courage." Kasuba added when he saw her legs trembling. He still knows not to mess with Sei's limit.

I can handle it if it's just behind the wall. Right? I can handle it, right?!

Aku gathered all her courage and then climbed over the wall. "Don't leave me, OKAY?!" Aku reminded them before jumping over the wall.

"Don't worry," Kasuba answered.

Thump!

Aku landed on the ground with ease.

Swoosh!

A blast of cold breeze greeted Aku. She rubbed her shoulders when she felt goosebumps rise on her arms.

It's dark around her, with only the moonlight illuminating her surroundings.

She looked around, expecting to see no one. Yet under the guise of the moonlight is a silhouette of a woman as deep as the night. Standing under the moonlit night, the hem of her skirt and long hair are dancing and fluttering softly with the cold breeze.

It was beautiful yet frightening.