"Hey, Jake. Let's go to the rooftop. I don't want others to eavesdrop."

He's my best friend, Vincent. We've been friends since we were babies, up to now in middle school. It has been three days since classes started.

The rooftop was six whole floors from the ground. My thighs burned after climbing those steps. Whatever Vince wanted to tell me had better be worth it. His eyes were very shifty as we climbed the stairs.

We entered the rooftop. There was nobody here, yet Vince double-checked, no, triple-checked if there really was nobody around. I guess I would give him a hand If he's that distrustful.

"..."

Yup. No one. No cameras. No nothing. Although there was this weird feeling that I was getting from somewhere. 'Is someone behind me?' I turned around and saw a bright orange sky. 'Who am I kidding?' I shrugged. His paranoia is rubbing on me. It was getting late. I should speak up.

"Vince, what are you so nervous about?" I spoke. "No one would be staying this late here anyway. So? What's this about?"

"Hey, Jacob. I have a confession to make," he said, looking at the ground.

"Okay. What is it?" I asked. 'I hope it's not a murderer confession or anything. I'm not helping you bury a body if it's too much of a hassle.'

"I just want to get this off my chest. I feel like I've been lying to you all this time." He replied in a low voice. He lifted his head up and looked at me.

He looked serious. I heard that guilt and fear of rejection were present in those who kept deep secrets too shocking for them to hide from their closest friends. "What's wrong, dude? You don't have to be so down. You know I accept you as you are." I said, trying to cheer him up.

"No, you don't understand. This has something to do with my entire identity." He spoke seriously. He looked at me, and I could see it in his eyes; he wanted to say something but couldn't.

'Is he coming out as gay or something?' I thought. I was not homophobic, and I would not really mind. 'Vince will always be Vince to me.' After a few seconds of contemplation, I replied.

"Yes, I do understand. I really don't mind your being gay. I'm not homophobic." I sighed. I spoiled his confession, but it was easier this way.

"But I'm not. I'm a boy," he said, looking confused.

Okay, I may have jumped to conclusions there. But we needed to wrap this up. The sun has already gone down, and we can't stay here forever.

"Sorry, I made the wrong assumption there." I paused. "So, what is it that I can't accept about you, despite us being friends for literally forever? I'm curious as to what that is." I waited for his response.

"Give me a moment." He sighed. There was silence between us for a few seconds. He seemed to be thinking. After a long while, he seemed to have made a decision.

"If I tell you this, we may never be friends anymore. It might even shatter everything you know about reality," he said. His voice was slightly muffled.

I could see how serious this was to him, but I felt somewhat insulted. 'Sorry if my pea-brain can't comprehend it, Vince.' I calmed down shortly and replied, "I think you are overthinking things. You can tell me everything. I'll always be there for you, you know?" Our friendship wasn't that shallow, silly Vincent.

He looked down for a few seconds. I felt my heart start to pound faster. The suspense was killing me. 'Just fricking say it!' My mind screamed.

"Okay. Here goes." He paused. "I'm a God," he said, looking at me straight. His eyes glimmered with determination, yet I found it funny how what he said and how he was acting now contrasted wildly.

"I'm sorry. What? Is this a joke or something?" I was at a loss for words. 'Is this some rank in a competitive multiplayer game?'

"I just want to live a normal life like everybody else. I don't want to interfere with others' lives," he said, looking regretful. "And If people find me out, I might get kidnapped, experimented on, or even be killed!" He shuddered. "What am I supposed to do?"

Was this a prank? No, he looked too serious. Then, an epiphany hit me. Was this the famous eighth-grade syndrome? Should I shatter his fantasies and pull him back to the real world? Or should I indulge him a bit?

I will never alienate my best friend, especially for trivial things like hobbies. Anime, a bit of the occult, and other nerdy things are some things I knew he enjoyed. I did, too, to some extent. Maybe he just needed someone to share his hobbies with. After some careful consideration, I replied, "Alright, Vince-sama. What can I do to help you?"

"A guy from another class saw me use my divinity. He's now bugging me to show my magic. He won't leave me alone. What should I do?" he asked, scowling.

Was Vince experiencing social anxiety? That guy looked like a potential friend, as far as I saw it. The guy seemed like a fellow nerd from his descriptions.

I don't mean to brag, but I'm moderately popular at school. For some reason, people really like me. Maybe because I was a top student. Or maybe, it was because of my easygoing personality. I wasn't really outgoing like Vince, but people liked to have my goodwill.

Vince, on the other hand, was quite shy. I used to attribute his lack of interest in socializing to introversion. After his confession, the idea of making new friends seemed scary to him. I will not let him suffer from fear of strangers.

I thought I knew my best friend well. I felt terrible for not noticing his pain until he confessed to me. We got closer, yet strangely farther apart at the same time. I have been too complacent about our friendship. I need to do more to be a better friend. I will definitely solve his problem down to its core.

"I'll talk to the guy. I'll see what I can do to help you out." I finally replied.

"You're the best, Jake! I knew I could count on you." Vince smiled and wrapped his arms around me. He wasn't usually touchy-feely, so I felt a little awkward, not that I'm complaining. It felt comforting, even.

After getting released from his embrace, I let out a light cough. "So, do you know anything about that guy who discovered you use 'magic?'" I asked.

"I think someone called him Akira. I don't know who he is, though," he frowned.

Akira. I remember that guy. The school provided incoming students a booklet containing the names and faces of their fellow schoolmates. I tried to memorize the ones from nearby classes. I saw that guy yesterday past the hallway. He doesn't look like an otaku, though. A closet nerd, perhaps? He was a bit of a loner, but he looked alright. Maybe he saw himself in Vince and decided to befriend him.

"That's all I need to know. Maybe Akira is a 'god' in disguise, too. Who knows?" I teased.

"That may be the case. But that's unlikely. Gods can't just be found anywhere," Vince said confidently. "It took me going to another town just to find one."

I have a guess about what happened to Vince. Maybe he tried to befriend people but got rejected after he revealed his interests. He did not seem to make new friends these past three days. We had old friends from grade school but were in other classes. At the very least, Vince seemed open to meeting like-minded people. He even visited another town to find one. Wait, when was that?

"Is that everything you want to tell me?" I asked. I was curious about his little excursion. But my parents will worry if this drags too long. Asking him about it could wait for some other time.

"That's all I need to tell you. I feel bad for someone else to learn about my secret before you." He said, disappointed. "I'm sorry, Jake."

"No worries. You don't need to feel obligated to tell me your secrets. Just share what you feel like sharing. Even I have my secrets, you know?" I reassured him. "Let's go home."

"Oh. Crap! The time. See you tomorrow, buddy!" He bolted toward the rooftop door. We were neighbors, so we could have gone home together.

"Hey! Wait up!" I cried. I chased after Vince, just two seconds behind him. After I entered the rooftop door, He was already nowhere to be seen. 'Didn't he enter just a second ago?' I thought. 'He sure runs fast.'

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I walked down the stairs, reminding myself of the dreadful feeling it gave. 'Leaving me alone after getting what you needed. Thanks, Vince. I will remember this.'

***

The next day, I decided to come to school earlier to meet Akira. Most people from Class B arrive earlier than the people from our class. I would assume that the guy does, too. Hence, I rode my bicycle earlier to our school than usual.

Vince and I used to go to school together up until this year. It was understandable as going home to school takes half an hour to travel on a bicycle at full speed. I think he uses the train now. We still arrive at school at roughly the same time, though.

I arrived at school about an hour before the class started. When I arrived at our classroom, Vince was already in his seat in the front row, doing yesterday's assignment. Riding the train must be delightful. Though, I don't mind having a morning cardio exercise and some extra pocket money.

"Good morning, Jake," Vince greeted. "You're early today. Want to grind for EXP today?" He said as he put down his notebook with unfinished work.

I believe his priorities were a bit off this time. Anyway, I came early for a different goal. "Sorry, I plan to talk to Akira this morning," I replied.

"Oh, sorry. Oh well. I'll see you at our usual spot after school."

"See ya." I smiled as I waved goodbye.

I left the class and headed to Class B beside our classroom. "Akira isn't here yet," I muttered to myself. "Hmm, what should I do?"

I wore my earphones and decided to listen to some music to pass the time. Some people greeted me as they walked by the door. I casually greeted them back. Some hurried to enter the classroom after seeing me. Having a stranger wait by their classroom door makes things a bit awkward for them. I suppose.

There were still twenty minutes left before the classes started when I felt a peculiar gaze from the side. I turned to face... nothing. 'It must be my imagination,' I thought to myself.

The clock ticked fast until the bell rang. I wasted time there. As I did not want to be late myself, I decided to enter our class. As I entered the door, I glanced at the neighboring classroom and saw Akira walking down the hallway. His sharp blue eyes caught mine, which startled him for some reason. He shuddered. He slowly backed away and ran in the opposite direction.

'What just happened? Is he scared of me?' I thought. 'No, that can't be right.' I looked behind to see if there was something there. There was nothing. 'Is this a case of scoptophobia or xenophobia?' Maybe he's just afraid of meeting eye-to-eye or strangers in general. 'Nah, I'm probably just reading into this too much.' I shook my head and headed to my seat.

"Found a girl that you like?" my chatty seatmate, Fred, asked with a grin. "You looked awestruck at someone right there. I thought you were staring at a pretty girl or something," He continued. "How does it feel to be on top of the world, your majesty?"

I rolled my eyes, wondering where he got all those silly names for me. After a long sigh, I replied, "No. Nothing like that. Someone from class B troubled Vince yesterday. I planned to take care of it this morning."

"Nothing less from our King," Fred said, a bit slower than how he usually speaks. His eyes seemed to have widened. Fred closed his eyes and folded his hands, sincerely pleading, "I pray for whoever's soul has incurred your wrath."

I chuckled. Fred likes to act exaggeratedly, and it never fails to make me laugh. "I won't go that far," I said. "I'm just going to talk to him."

"Isn't that going to be too soft?" Fred asked. "The punishment needs to be harsh and noticeable," he explained with a pious tone.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Yeah, well. Whatever. The teacher's coming." The teacher was three minutes late. I arranged my desk to prepare for the first period.

"Okay, class. Everyone looks to be here. Let's proceed to our first lesson about set theory..." The teacher started to speak.

I have already read in advance about the lesson. I did not think I would miss anything if I did not listen for today. 'I still have the lunch break and after classes to talk to Akira.' I thought. The teacher randomly called students to answer some questions, probably to familiarize himself with his students. The question I got was easy, so it was not a big deal. The period and the next proceeded smoothly without a problem. Although from time to time, I kept having a weird feeling that something was staring at me. It was a bit unsettling, but it disappeared whenever I glanced in that direction.

The bell rang, and I hurried out of the classroom. I took the back exit, which was the closest to me. To my surprise, I saw Akira running in the hallway towards the toilet. I followed him to the restroom and waited there.

'So it wasn't me after all.' I thought. He ran out before I did. It was fifteen minutes already, and he still hadn't come out. 'Just a horrible case of an upset stomach, I guess.' I decided to leave and catch up with my friends for lunch at the cafeteria.

"You can gain more 'Hellfire Ash' if you grind on this spot, you know?" Fred told Vince.

"I'm under-leveled, so I can't earn much from it," Vince explained.

They seem to get along fine. Vince was doing fine on his own. Maybe I don't need to be so obsessed with watching over him. It took him a while before he opened up to me when we were kids, so maybe I overreacted. 'What's the problem with Akira, then?' I thought. 'Whatever. Vince asked me to deal with him anyway.'

Lunch went smoothly. It was after twelve-thirty when the bell rang. I cleared my table and went with my classmates into the school gymnasium for our Physical Education class. I glanced at class B to see what they were up to, which was just a lecture. There, I saw Akira sleeping on his desk in the front row.

'What a brave guy,' I thought. Upon closer inspection, Akira seemed to shiver. Oh, right. He was sick today. Their teacher went to check on him, and he wasn't asleep. He was still awake. 'Just tell her you are sick, man.'

I felt a light tap on my right shoulder, rousing me from my daze. It was Fred.

"Our Monarch, Jacob. We don't want to be late. I implore you to continue guiding your subjects the right way," Fred said. "Sir Wheatstone gives his students ten laps around the school for being tardy," he warned. "But fret not, as your loyal subjects are willing to take the punishment with you if need be."

"Oh crap. Let's run!" I exclaimed. Four minutes. We still have four minutes to get changed and go to the gym. We ran as fast as we could. The hallways were already empty, so we were not in danger of bumping into people. Thankfully, we made it on time.

"Alright. Pair up," Mr. Wheatstone said. "Today, we will measure your basic fitness, like strength, speed, agility, endurance, and flexibility." He added. "Quick question. Does anyone here have an injury?"

The students glanced at each other. In the end, no one raised their hand. After a while, Mr. Wheatstone continued, "No? Then let's proceed..."

The gymnasium was divided into two, one assigned to us and the other to an eighth-grade class. They seem to be playing volleyball. Our site has various devices scattered around the floor. While performing a fitness test, the partner will record the results. We were free to choose our partner this time.

"Fred, do you want to pair with Vince?" I asked. "He doesn't know anyone yet, so-"

"Jake, Let's pair up." Vince suddenly said as he grabbed me away from Fred.

"How about Fred? I'm sure you two will enjoy the teamwork." I offered.

Vince moved closer to my ears and whispered, "My divinity requires contact to activate. And I can't exactly control its activation." He sounded so desperate. I can't help to turn him down this time.

"Fine," I replied.

'Now that I think about it, Vince was okay with talking to people during grade school. It's physical contact that he was afraid of.' Everything was starting to make sense. 'So Akira tried to initiate contact, which made Vince avoid him,' I thought. 'But the way he phrased it...'

"Vince, If your divinity requires contact to activate, then why is it okay to pair with me?" I asked.

"You're fine, Jake," Vince said. "You're the only one where my divinity does not randomly activate." He added.

'What does that mean? I can't meaningfully interpret those words. He seemed to just be adding arbitrary rules to his 'divinity.' Ugh, never mind, we're still in class.' I approached Fred to discuss the change of plans.

"Fred-"

"It's okay. I found a partner already." Fred said, revealing his bespectacled female partner. She was Donna if I remember correctly.

"Gotcha." I gave him a thumbs up. No other words were necessary.

Sir Wheatstone finally spoke, "If you have found a partner already, proceed to any vacant testing site. There's enough for each pair. Rotate to the next site when you're done."

"""""Yes, Sir!"""""

I went with Vince to our first site, which was about testing grip strength using a dynamometer. Vince picked the device up and tried it first. He gripped the handle as hard as he could until a beep.

"19 kilograms, a bit lower than the average for a twelve-year-old," I commented.

"You didn't have to add the last bit," Vince complained. "For the record, that is within the average. Here, your turn." Vince threw the dynamometer at me. Thankfully, I caught it by reflex.

"Geez, do you want to break school equipment during your first week here?" I retorted.

I placed my right hand on the handle and gripped it. I gradually increased my strength until I reached my limit. A beep signaled me to stop.

"28 kilograms, a bit lower than the average for a musclehead," Vince smirked. "Oh, it says here that we should do either hand. Try your left this time."

I agreed, then placed my left hand on the handle and gripped it until a beep. The reading was a unit lower than my other hand. It was the same for Vince.

We proceeded to take the other tests in order. It was kind of fun to play around with various devices. To test my speed, I did the shuttle run. I finished with the figure-eight test to measure my agility. Lastly, I measured my flexibility using the sit and reach test.

I beat Vince on all tests except for flexibility. There were a total of twelve trials. We were about to submit our results when we heard someone shout.

"Andrew! Look out!"

I looked in the direction of the sound. Instead of a man shouting, I saw a PE uniform getting larger, covering my entire vision. My eyes widened. Before I could react, my body was already falling.

'This feels heavy.' That Andrew guy was resting on top of me. He quickly got up soon enough.

'I feel dizzy.' I saw other people opening their mouths, but all I could hear were muffled voices.

'My head feels cold.' My hand reached for my head. It was wet.

My vision faded. I blacked out.

"..."

'Where am I?' I thought.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! Please forgive me." an unfamiliar voice pleaded.

I was startled, but my vision came back to me right away. I was still in the gymnasium. It seems I woke up mere seconds after I lost consciousness. I was already standing up when I awoke. The one apologizing to me was that upperclassman.

I looked around. Everyone appeared so shocked, almost comical even. I had the sudden urge to laugh, but I contained myself. Still, I need to diffuse this situation.

"Andrew, right? It was an accident. Just be careful next time. We don't want anyone to be badly hurt now, do we?" I asked.

"Thank you!" His eyes were flashing with tears, but he immediately caught them. 'What a nice guy,' I thought.

His classmates started consoling him as they walked away. "It's not your fault." "Don't cry." "̵̧̓Y̴͔͑o̸̲̊ù̷̬'̸̟̇ȓ̴̝ė̵̞ ̵̃͜l̴͖̐ư̶͖c̶̨̃k̷̭̅y̷͚̕ ̵̩̽ḥ̵̍ẽ̴͙ ̴͙́ò̸̻ň̵͔l̷̥̐y̸̠͐ ̸͙̈́g̶͈̅ä̴̩́v̴̢̈́e̷̬̓ ̴͔͛y̶̯̋ô̷̠u̷̖͂ ̸̲̑à̶̲ ̵̤͝w̸͖̄a̴̛̲ṙ̷̹n̸͕̔į̴͝n̴̟̂g̴͈̏.̶̪̋"̴̪̔

I couldn't hear all of them, but why was he the only one getting consoled? I was the actual patient there. My classmates seemed too afraid to approach me. Was it because of blood? Where was Sir Wheatstone? 'Whatever, I'll help myself to the infirmary.'

I was about to walk out when someone offered me his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Jake. I promise I will fix you." It was my best friend. He spoke in a solemn tone. He continued, "Even if it's the last thing I would do."

That meant the world to me. But carrying me to the infirmary was enough.