It was the lunch break. Without him noticing, time flew by and he was in the school cafeteria sitting together with his friends at a table all by themselves.

-So…as I was saying…look at this.

-Max, what is this?

-…This is…the new generation David!

In one side, there were David and Max focusing on watching something about a game trailer from Max’s phone. They were eating while chatting happily as they brought up new theories about it.

But Chris wasn’t listening to them. He was meddling with the lunch his mother made to him while thinking about what happened before.

After he met that teacher, Chris came back to his class, finding out his classmates were acting perfectly normal. When the break time was over and the lesson started, they were focused on the subject the teacher was teaching but, although quieter than usual, they weren’t emotionless looking only at the blackboard.

Hoping to see something that could be the cause for this weird incident, Chris decided to stay in class for the rest of the morning but his wait was for naught since his classmates weren’t affected by it

It was then an idea surged in his mind.

(Could this be related to the game?)

This question got his attention more than the lesson. First, nobody knew anything about [You are mine], a game that was supposed to be one of the season’s hit. Second, a character from that game came to the real world and didn’t know why she was here. And now the school classrooms had students that looked like emotionless dolls. It was too much weirdness for it to be just a coincidence.

But, one thing Chris was certain: something was happening in his life and the only one that could help him solve it was the girl.

(Trying to figure out why the game just vanished from everyone would be better, but there is just no clue that could help us figure it out. Maybe I should try to ask her if she knows anything more, but she already told me everything she knew. As I thought, the school could be out starting line, but what could be the cause?)

It was too many questions to think about at once. He sighed from tiredness and ate a mouthful of the sandwich in his lunchbox.

(Also, why is it that this is only happening to me? Everyone but me forgot about the game; besides the girl, I’m the only one that could move when everyone was a statue. What will happen next? Will I be the target for assassination? Wait…the girl did try to kill me then, so-)

-Chris!

Due to the shout his friend made, Chris was startled and chocked with the food he was chewing.

-What the…*cought*…heck Max?!

-That is what I supposed to say. You weren’t responding at all when we called you.

Looking carefully at them while massaging his throat, Chris saw his two friends looking at him weirdly. He was so lost in his thoughts that maybe he didn’t realize his friends were talking to him all this time.

-Sorry, I was just…thinking, of something. – After saying that, Chris returned to eat his lunch. – So…what were we talking about again?

-Forget it, man. It wasn’t important anyway… - Max sighed listening to his forced reply and put his phone away.

-I…see.

Feeling that the subject ended, Chris turned silent as he came back to his thoughts. David and Max looked at each other, worried about their friend as they watching him in this state. Taking the lead, David asked Chris:

-Is it about Midna?

Surprised, Chris looked in disbelief at David. Trying his best to be discreet, he quickly looked back-and-fourth towards Max using only his eyes to plead David some concern regarding the subject in his presence, but the victim just smiled at him.

-Don’t worry about me, Chris. It’s alright now.

-No, I wasn’t trying to-

-Man, chill.

He wanted to deny his friend’s words but Max did a carefree smile to show he was fine by it.

-You know me, right. It would take more than a rejection to stop me! In fact, that already became another memory of the past! A bad memory on top of that! So don’t worry and count on us about anything you need.

In his front, David and Max were doing thumbs up to show Chris he could rely on them. Seeing them like this made him a bit happy.

-Thanks, but seriously, it’s nothing big.

There was no need for them to be involved as well. This was something happening to Chris and only him.

(Besides, they wouldn’t believe it anyway.)

-C’mon, man. Tell us the thing so we can hel...

In a moment, Max looked over Chris and the confidence face of his distorted into an expression of pain, making Chris confused. As his head hit the table, Max placed both of his hands on his belly.

-Max! – Immediately, David went to check his friend to assist him.

It didn’t look like it was something serious, so Chris was calm as his friend suffered from something he saw. Looking behind him, the boy knew exactly the cause.

From the cafeteria entrance, a group of six girls came in and all the other students stopped what they were doing as their eyes caught the sight of the student starting off her first day at the school.

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The girl was idly chatting together with other students from the class as they sat by the table to eat. Just like what happened in the classroom, the whole cafeteria was stunned by her appearance, except for a single table.

-I thought you said she was just another memory.

-S-Shut up!

Chris couldn’t resist the urge to tease his friend that was so proud of himself, which Max rebuked with an irritated voice between his moans of pain. Turning his head so he could glare at Chris, Max said:

-M-m-more importantly…what the heck is she doing here, Chris?!

-My mom enrolled her here.

-And you couldn’t object to it?!

-I was as pleased as you, you know?

-Gosh darn-Ugh!

-Max, calm down and breath slowly. Follow my lead.

The more Max become agitated, his stomach ache became worse to the point he was wishing to go to the bathroom but didn’t have the strength to do it, so all he could do was follow David’s instructions.

This was not a funny situation, but for Chris, that was stressed over all the things that happened to him lately, this was a good way to be more relaxed as he laughed at his friend suffering.

But it was to protect these small moments in life that Chris would find a way to revert everything back to normal.

[][][][][]

Later on, after the lunch ended, it was time for the next lesson to begin, but Chris had other plans. It was time for him to look for answers. He asked to go to the bathroom and managed to get out of the classroom.

The moment he stepped on the hallway, Chris turned back and, to his sorrow, his classroom became like the others he saw on the first floor earlier. But, unlike them, he could open the door to enter it anytime he wanted to, surprising the boy.

And, one peculiar aspect caught his attention. The people inside, who were like statues looking ahead, became lively once again and acted normally, but when he closes the door, they revert back to that state, with the exception of the girl who could move as freely like he could.

This made Chris notice two points to this strange phenomenon.

First, it was regarding about classroom. No matter how much noise or disturbance he made outside if the door was closed and he opened it, nobody seemed to react to it, but, if the door was opened and he made a noise, they would react as normal.

Also, there was another aspect that made him curious: the time inside the classroom. Unlike Chris originally though, the time would still pass even if the phenomenon was happening.

For example: if the Student A hadn’t their books on the table when Chris gets out of the classroom. At first, he thought people inside wouldn’t take any action since they weren’t moving, so Student A was still supposed to not have a book on their table, but, when Chris enters in the classroom again after waiting a bit outside, there was a book on the Student A’s table.

Chris noticed this by accident when he was leaving the class. When he left, there was a group of friends that couldn’t control their voices. While Chris was testing the door, they were still talking loud and Chris heard the teacher shouting for them to stop and that he would spread them apart. The next time he opened the door, the group of friends was separated, sitting at other tables.

The second point was about him. No matter how much Chris looked at, only he wasn’t affected by this weird phenomenon. If it was only that, then it wouldn’t be that worse for him, but something else lingered in his mind. Others students in his class had gone out to the bathroom earlier but none of them freaked out or commented about the others classrooms. Also, the phenomenon didn’t occur when they left. For some reason, it only happened when Chris exited the classroom.

(But why does it work like that?)

There was some sort of connection between the strange things happening lately and Chris. He already forgot about coincidence by now. There must be an answer to this and the others questions, and Chris was determined to find them.

And, of course, he wasn’t alone on this.

-Chris, I’m back!

From the stairs, the girl was running in the hallway towards Chris.

-Hi. Did you get it?

-Yep!

As she said it, the girl gave him something on his hands. It was the key strap containing all the keys of his school. Normally, only the janitor was supposed to have it but. if Chris guessed right, he wouldn’t need them now.

-Thanks. Was it hard?

-Nothing I couldn’t handle. Besides, there was nobody there anyway.

-And the others?

-Just like the rest of them.

When he reached the hallway, the girl was there right behind him. Seeing that she had an abnormal mobility, Chris asked her to check out the rest of the school’s classrooms and bring the janitor’s keys if she could. He knew this might be too much for one person alone, but the girl was sure she could do it.

The janitor had a small storage room a bit far from the sports field, so Chris thought that it wouldn’t be affected like the rest of the school. Luckily, he was right about it.

-Well, let’s do it then.

The quicker they acted the better. There wasn’t much time before class ended. Going to the next classroom, Chris checked the door first. Seeing it was locked, he immediately started testing which key was the correct one.

He thought that, if his class was like that, then maybe other classrooms worked the same, but for some reason, they were all locked. If that was the case, then all he needed to do was unlocked them. After all, as the things were now, any sort of information was useful.

(Nice!)

Finally, a key matched the keyhole and it entered. Quickly, he turned it until he heard the click signalizing the lock was undone. He placed his hand on the doorknob and breathes in slowly.

This was it, the first step to solve the whole situation. Something as simple as opening the door would be the way they would begin the search for clues. Honestly, Chris kind of wished it was something more exciting, but that didn’t stop him to twist the doorknob and walk forward…just to hit the door with his head.

(…What?)

He was sure it was unlocked. There was no mistake in it. Again, he twisted the knob but the door didn’t budge to his push. Frustrated, Chris his shoulder against the door to open it, but, even then, it didn’t move an inch.

(Are you kidding me right now?)

It was as if he couldn’t access it, like a restricted area he wasn’t allowed to be in. No matter how much strength he mustered, the door remained shut in his face.

-Need a help?

Seeing Chris struggling without any success, the girl said to him.

-All yours.

Accepting her help, Chris moved away from the door. If it was about sheer force, she had it way more than him. Still, if she couldn’t do it either, then there was more in this situation then he could think of.

And then, the girl approached the door…while holding a scythe she took out of nowhere.

(…Huh?)

There were no problems in his eyes. Chris could see it clearly. The scythe appeared in an instant on the girl’s hand, the same one she used while in the game.

And she lifts it up to the point the blade was almost touching the ceiling, preparing to strike the door.

-Wait, not like that-

But, before Chris could stop her, the girl already had swung down the scythe. The clash between them was so great that Chris could feel it just by the noise it produced. Still, the girl didn’t stop.

She just kept swinging the huge scythe on the door. Each time she strikes it was faster, stronger than the last, to the point Chris couldn’t even see the weapon anymore and just felt the cutting wind coming from the girl’s attacks.

After a minute or so, the girl finally stopped her rampage and looked with expectations for Chris with a smile, the same expression she bore when she wanted to be praised by him.

-Did I help?

Even after suffering from her strikes, the door still stood up and remained closed, but not that he was noticing it. For the first time in his life, Chris just stood there with a blank face, watching the situation unfold before his eyes without having any strength to stop it.

It was also the first time he thought of a phrase to calm himself.

(Don’t forget she came from a video game, she came from a video game, she came from a video game…)