Saito opens the door to the dorms. The stakeout had been longer than he anticipated. He had a plan, however, tomorrow’s job should go smoothly. He is greeted with silence, and darkness, with everyone else retired to their bed. He is not alone, however. He can feel eyes on him; a twinkle in the darkness gives the presence away.

Slash.

With one motion his scythe is out and ready. Yuuri is there, staring down the handle in the dorm’s lamp light.

“You’re late.” Is her terse response.

Saito folds away his scythe, “It’s just work stuff. No need to worry about it.”

“And what ‘work’ requires a scythe?” Yuuri asks, incredulously.

“I work in town next to the old warehouse.”

“With a scythe??” Yuuri stares him down.

Saito shakes his head, “Do you think I’m cheating on you or something? Because I can assure you I’m not.”

Yuuri stands, “Is that what you think this is? Do you take me for some overbearing girlfriend? I know something is going on. You have a weapon, random injuries, and leave at unusual times. Just tell me what it is, trust me, please.”

“I’m not hiding anything!” Saito finally defends himself, “You think I could hide anything from Yuudai, or Cerys, or Katsuki?”

Yuuri scoffs at him. “That’s your response? After all this time you don’t think I’m entitled to a little honesty?”

Anger briefly washes over his face, but he pushes it aside as he adjusts his glasses, “Look, it’s just a boring, menial job. I work late because they pay extra for night shifts, and it doesn’t clash with class.” He pauses and follows up quickly with, “And yes, the scythe is part of the job. And not because it looks cool, either.””

Yuuri marches up to Saito to look him in the eye. Saito stands his ground, looking up at his girlfriend. Their staredown continues for what feels like an eternity before Yuuri grabs Saito and pulls him into a hug. Saito is caught completely off guard by Yuuri’s tight embrace, as if she would lose him should she let go. Yuuri eventually pulls back and looks at Saito again, tears now streaming down her face.

“I hope you can be honest with me. If not tonight, then one day.” Yuuri says. She wipes away the tears and walks back to her room. She stops to turn the light off and takes one last look at Saito, who’s frozen in the center of the room, “Goodnight, Saito.”

***

The morning sun shines through the Paranormal Club dorm room as the majority of the group sits around the table, eating Akina’s usual provided breakfast. Saito walks out of his room adjusting his necktie, mumbling under his breath about it.

“Stop complaining, it looks good on you.” Yuuri smiles at Saito.“Good morning.”

Despite last night, her words are warm. The smile that he’s grown to love sits upon her relaxed face. Saito exhales and smiles back. “Hey, good morning.”

He walks into the kitchen looking for one of his cup noodles.

“The water is boiling already.” Akina says, without looking up from the stove.

“Oh, you’re doing something nice for me?” Saito snarks back. “How odd.”

“I am responsible for the cooking, if that can even be called cooking.” Akina spits back, “Are you going to do the second step of this two step meal or should I do it all for you?”

Saito chuckles “Hey, this stuff is quick, it’s easy, it keeps me light on my feet and alert when I need it.” He opens the lid of the cup and pours the water in. “Here, I can save you the trouble.”

Akina finally looks over at him. “I’ve checked the ingredients. You’d get as much nutrition from salted cardboard. If you want something quick, I can prepare something.”

Saito pauses, shocked, staring at the cup. “W-Well, I got used to these after having so many at work. Call it a habit.”

Akina appraises the expression she typically doesn’t see from him.“Think about it.”

She turns back to focus on her assorted kitchen duties.

Saito exits the kitchen, Akina’s offer in his ear. He sets his cup noodle on the table next to Yuuri, sits down and breaks his chopsticks.

“So, Saito, where did you end up going last night?” Cerys asks him, leaning in with her usual snarky grin.

He takes a quick glance at Yuuri before answering. “I work part-time. I do nights so I can go to school in the daytime.”

Cerys smirks. “Nice automated response. So, were you trying to get Yuuri a present or something?”

“Of course.” He slurps down a stick of noodles. “Why else would I put all this effort in?” Yuuri smiles a bit more and nuzzles his shoulder with her chin. “Hey, easy.” Saito says with a playful tone. ”This water’s still really hot.”

“I would tell you two to get a room but we have to get to class.” Katsuki says. “Oh, speaking of things we can’t do during class, don’t forget we have to meet up with Ranmaru afterwards.” She gets up and grabs her backpack. “We have some school mysteries to investigate!”

“Someone’s an eager beaver,” Mari says to Katsuki. “We still got another hour ta class, don’t we?”

Katsuki’s smile is dazzling. “That obvious?” She leans against the dorm’s door, waiting for her friends to finish eating.

“Now, y-ya’ll promise y’ain’t gonna prank me by leavin’ me alone with th’ ghosts right!?” Suzaka asks nervously.

Rina looks at her mischievously, “Try not to be late.”

Akina comes out with her own meal. “Why do you keep bringing up ghosts? There are no ghosts. We’ve seen more demons than ghosts. And we beat them up.”

Suzaka panics. “But… wha’ if there are! Ya can’t punch a ghost!”

“Wit’ tha right enchantments ya can,” Mari says.

“I kinda get it. Like Raidou said, if you can punch it, you can beat it.” Yuudai says. “And if you can’t…”

“Yeah, wha’ he said th’ guy said!” Suzaka blurts out.

Akina sighs. “We don’t have to worry about punching things that aren’t there. And punching isn’t the only way to defeat an enemy. Regardless, it’s bad manners to talk instead of eat.” She digs into her food.

***

The second-years walk past their dorm for the umpteenth time, looking for any landmarks that can point them towards the mid-tier dorms.

“Hey, do you know where we’re going?” Rina asks Kirika.

“Of course.” Kirika replies. “We’ve been there before.”

Rina points out the dorm as they pass. “We’ve been right here before! Several times! In the last hour! Ah, why don’t we just have Kirie show us? She was here last year!”

“There was no mid-tier bench last year, so I wouldn’t be able to help.” Kirie replies.

“But you know where the mid tier dorms are at least, right!?” Rina yells.

Kirie shakes her head. “I’m afraid not. Last year the only classification was ‘lower’ and ‘upper’. I’m not sure which rooms were assigned to be the ‘middle’ dorms.”

“Well, if y’know where the uppers are, an’ y’know where the lowers are, don’ we jus’ needta go to where they aren’t??” Suzaka wonders.

“Where they aren’t?” Kirika asks.

“Where t’other dorms aren’t’ll be where the mid-tier dorms are.” She replies. “They can’t be where a dorm already is!”

Rina groans. “You’re right, but that doesn’t really help as it narrows it down to ‘literally anywhere in the world’.”

Suzaka smirks. “Hey, still right!”

“Oh! That makes sense!” Kirie says, splitting off from the group, leaving them to change course and follow her.

“... It does?” Rina asks, dumbfounded.

“How is it that none of you have any idea where to go?” Kirika says. “We’ve been late so many times because none of you know where you are going!”

Rina rolls her eyes. “Because we were having so much luck with you in charge.”

Kirika huffs “We’d have got there if someone wasn’t casting aspersions on their superiors!”

“Hey, ain’t n’ need ta be arguin’ ‘bout this. W’ gotta be ready t’ stick t’gether ta face all th’... th’...” Suzaka gulps.

“For the last time, our seniors said there are no ghosts, so there are no ghosts!” Kirika shouts. “Not one!”

Kirie says in a playful tone “Yes! I was here for a whole year and didn’t even see the ghost of a ghost!”

“I-I-Is tha’ a thin’!?” Suzaka yelps.

Rina sighs. “If it is, it’s a thing somewhere else. Like in some ghost town in America.”

“Ghosts only have ghosts in America…?” Kirie mumble to herself in thought.

“I-If you all say so. But... I ain’t goin’ near no ghost town, either.” Suzaka says.

Rina and Kirika shake their heads but leave well enough alone as they reach Cerys and the rest of their group near the Fashion Club dorms.

Cerys looks at the shivering Suzaka. “Was she still going on about ghosts again?”

Rina nods.

“Bloody hell,” Cerys says, facepalming. “I haven’t seen someone so scared of something that doesn’t exist in my life.”

“Don’t start her up again, Cerys.” Kirika says. “We convinced her that there’s no ghosts here at least.

“And that the ghosts only have ghosts in the great United States of America!” Kirie claps her hands together, saying confidently.

Rina turns to Kirie with an annoyed look. “What are you talking about now, you airhead?”

Cerys holds her hands up “Alright, alright I got it. If I tease her more I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Yuudai chuckles. “Wow, so that’s how you defeat the mighty Cerys? Be so annoying that she gives up?”

Cerys smirks at him. “Unfortunately, that still leaves you on the table, bat boy.”

“Hey, hey, not in front of Ranmaru you guys. Did you forget we had a guest with us?” Katsuki says. “We can at least keep it together in front of the company, right?”

Ranmaru looks up from her phone to the group gathered around her. She shoots up off the bench to her feet and pockets the mobile, “I was wonderin’ if th’ rest of ya were gonna show up.”

“We’re here now!” Yuudai says with a fist pump for emphasis. “It’s finally time for us to do some honest paranormal work!”

Ranmaru snorts. “Good thing I told y’all to get here when I did. Y’all’re actually early.”

“We’re what?” Cerys asks.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“I knew it would take some’f ya a little longer to get here, so I told ya an earlier time so late would actually be early.”

Rina huffs, “Maybe if Princess ov-”

Yuuri holds up her hand, “Rina, let’s not start, okay? I recall it took a certain someone nearly fourty-five minutes to return to the clubroom with drinks. Remember?!”

“Well…” Rina stops trying to think of a comeback.

“Don’ worry! You’ll find the vending machines some day!” Suzaka says.

Akina shakes her head, “Perhaps we should send our underclassmen out on errands with a supervisor.”

“We’ll discuss that later.” Yuuri responds with a smile.

Ranmaru looks around the club, “Buddy systems aside, this everyone?”

Yuudai looks around. “Wait, where’s Saito?”

“He had work today.” Yuuri quickly answers, “Remember?”

Yuudai furrows his brow. “...No?”

Cerys laughs. “Too busy with the baseball highlights?”

“Is that like the only thing you know about me?” Yuudai mumbles.

Ranmaru whistles, grabbing the group’s attention, “If y’all keep arguing like that, we ain’t gonna see any wonders tonight!” She points to the edge of the school near some trees, “In fact, there’s th’ first wonder right there.”

“Th’ tree?” Suzaka asks.

“Not the tree!” Ranmaru groans, “Look at th’ base of th’ tree!”

The onlooking eyes shift from the top to the bottom of the tree, their sights now locking onto a hazy blue light that emanates from the tree’s base. The light eventually blobs up to one corner of the tree and plops out to take a more identifiable shape: a blue steel rabbit with bright white eyes. Smoky tendrils rise off of its body.

Kirie squeals with excitement, “A bunny!” She begins jogging over.

“I wanna see!” Suzaka follows behind her.

“Let’s catch it!” Cerys yells as she joins the two.

“Wait!” Yuuri holds out her hand as the three disappear into the woods after the rabbit. She sighs as they fade into the trees, “...Off to a great start.”

“That...was th’ ghost rabbit.” Ranmaru tells the others, “They say if ya follow it for too long, y'all will meet yer grisly end.”

“And how many folks has tha rabbit killed?” Mari asks.

“Well...none…” Ranmaru begins, “... yet! But th’ school hasn’t been here too long so it could still happen!”

“Alright,” Akina stands up and brushes her pants off, “what’s next?”

“Akina!” Katsuki chides, “We can’t let them die!”

Akina looks back to Katsuki. “Cerys can teleport, Kirie has wings so she can probably fly, and Suzaka’s a cyborg. If they die to a bunny, it’s their own fault.”

***

The three girls weave around trees, traversing deeper into the forest. The rabbit always seems to be just out of reach of them zigzagging at the most opportune times. Every attempt at getting closer or sneaking up on it is met with a jump through a tree or a sudden vanishing act.

“For God’s sake just extend your arm and catch the rabbit Suzaka!” Cerys shouts, her breathing a bit heavier now. “Go Go Gadget Catch Ghost Rabbit, or something like that!”

“Oh yeah!” Suzaka takes aim and shoots her cybernetic arm out. While on target, her approach ends in failure. The rabbit phases through her grip and a tree to hop out of reach.

“Shoot!” Suzaka pouts as she winds her arm back.

Cerys grits her teeth. She teleports in front of the rabbit, arms outstretched, “Got ya’ this time!”

The rabbit doesn’t even slow down, phasing through Cerys as she dives down to catch it. As she hits the ground, Suzaka and Kirika can see it ‘bounce’ off her back.

Cerys slowly stands up and shakes off the dirt and grass coating her front. “What the hell?” She touches around at her midsection. “You guys saw that right?”

“So it wasn’t just me!” Suzaka says, “It went through ma’ hand too!”

“Did you see it too, Kirie?” Cerys asks, only to find her missing, “Shit, okay I guess you didn’t.”

“Do ya think she might’ve gone after it herself?” Suzaka asks.

“It’s either that or she ran off with her tail tucked between her legs,” Cerys looks around, “And I don’t think she would do that. C’mon, let’s find her.”

Both navigate through the woods, calling out for their friend or looking around for any trails.. Soon enough, they do find a small trail of rabbit footprints with a hazy blue glow to them. The pair follow them back out to a different part of the school grounds. It’s there that they finally see Kirie once more, sitting on the grass with the rabbit wrapped in her arms.

“Look, look! I caught it!” Kirie proudly shows off her captured prize.

“Wait, how did you…” Cerys begins.

“This bunny was so cute, I couldn’t not catch it!”

The rabbit’s ears twitch. Kirie’s eyes sparkle, “Oh hey-”

The rabbit suddenly looks panicked. Kirie puts her ear close to the rabbit’s mouth and nods along, making affirmative noises every once in a while.

Cerys walks towards Kirie carefully, looking at her like she’s grown three heads. .“Are...you alright?”

Kirie puts a hand up, “Stay back, Cerys. I must concentrate to talk with the rabbit!”

“What?”

Kirie scrunches up her face with concentration. Cerys steps back, clearly disturbed.

Suzaka, oblivious, walks up and pokes Kirie, “Why are you staring at the rabbit? And how are you holding it?”

“I think I need to go,” Kirie says to the rabbit. She drops the rabbit and salutes as it takes off back into the woods.

“Kirie, what was th-” Cerys shakes her head, “you know what? Nevermind.I have too many questions and I don’t want answers to any of them.”

“But ain’t we doin’ this fer question answerin’?” Suzaka tilts her head.

“I don’t know,” Cerys brushes more dirt off her clothes, “And you know what? I don’t care! I’m done for today.”

“Oh my, I apologize Cerys,” Kirie says with a bow, “I did not mean to let my bunny love get the best of me.”

“I said forget it,” Cerys clicks her tongue, “Anymore goofy comments and you’ll tick me off even more than I already am!”

“Guess we should go back ta tha others then?” Suzaka looks between the two.

“Nope. Not me. I am done.”

Cerys storms off. Kirie and Suzaka look at each other and decide that the best choice would be to follow the angry little girl.

***

With a bit of wrangling, Ranmaru got the Paranormal Club moving again. After a short trip, they soon arrive at the entrance to the school.

“May not look like much now, but this is where th’ second wonder occurs.” Ranmaru gestures.

Rina looks around, “This is just the school gates. Are you guys really that desperate for legends!? Hell I bet that was a normal rabbit we saw!”

Katsuki snaps her fingers, “Don’t be rude! If they say it’s paranormal, then the Paranormal Club must investigate!”

“This is tha first paranormal thang we’ve dealt wit’ that hasn’t been tryin’ ta kill us,” Mari says to Rina, “Let ‘er have this moment.”

Ranmaru observes the squabble, “Y’all sure do fight a lot.” She shakes her head, “Anyway, this is ’bout th’ Reaper of Zonzai! It’s a fairly new wonder.”

“Then why’s it numbah two if it’s new?” Mari asks.

Ranmaru ignores the question, “People said since school started back up they see a weird figure come back in through th’ gates late at night. Others have found trails of blood leading from th’ gate ta th’ dorms, but they can never find out which dorm it goes ta. It’s like they up and vanish.``

“But the gates are locked from the outside, so no one can get in unless they have a key.” Kirika says

“How do you know that?” Hotaru inquires.

“The delivery man couldn’t get in the gate the other night, and I couldn’t find anyone with a key to open so I had to make them come back the next day and we all know how that ended up…” Kirika glares at Rina when she’s finished.

“Shut up.” Rina mutters, shaking her head.

“Speakin’ of which, where’s tha Rabbit Hunters?” Mari asks.

Yuuri looks up from her phone “Oh, Cerys texted me saying that the three of them are back at the dorms.” She scratches the back of her head “Apparently whatever happened, she won’t be able to tell me over text.”

Hotaru writes in his notebook and then looks at everyone else, “Maybe the rabbit leading to your death is wrong and it just leads to your dorm room?”

“That's silly little guy. What kind of legend just sends you home?” Rina laughs.

Her laughter is cut short as it’s overtaken by a deep loud howl.

“That sounds very close. There’s a wolf here on campus.” Akina says very matter of factly.

Hotaru’s eyes go wide, “There haven't been wild wolves in Japan in over one hundred years! There is no way what we just heard was a wolf!”

Ranmaru butts in, “Well yer right little guy, haven’t been wild wolves in Japan in forever! What we jus’ heard was th’ third wonder ‘Th’ On Campus Werewolf’”

Yuudai points at the gate. “Wait, we’re just done with this wonder?”

“We’re too early to see any blood trails, and I’d be the first one to sense those out.” Katsuki says, a look of self satisfaction on her face.

Akina crosses her arms. “Why are we still sitting here talking? We need to start moving to capture that wolf.”

Hotaru closes his notebook, “I agree with Akina, but how do you know so much about wolves? They’ve been extinct here for ages. Are you sure it wasn’t a dog you were hearing?”

Akina glares down at the little boy, “Japan is not the only place I’ve trained. I have honed my body and spirit to be in tune with nature, telling the difference between animals is nothing to me.” She takes off towards the howl, “Try and keep up.”

The rest of the group gives chase, trailing just behind the silver-haired girl. Eventually, they catch up to Akina, who’s squatting down to investigate something near the side entrance to the school.

Akina stands, “No signs of prints. It’s almost as if it teleported away.”

Ranmaru pushes her way to the front of the group, panting, “Or they turned inta a wolf...howled...and turned back t’ leave!”

Katsuki shakes her head, “That’s not how a werewolf works. Once they transform, they remain a wolfman until the full moon sets.”

“Y-Ya don’t know that for sure!”

Mari looks towards the sky, “Maybe they only got a partial transformation, since tha moon ain’t full an’ all.”

Katsuki puts her hands to her hips, “So what the hell is it if not a werewolf?”

“Wait...” Yuuri thinks aloud, “What if it’s Uni?”

Ranmaru shakes her head, “Uni only really turns inta a lil puppy dog. She can’t exactly reach wolf size.”

“It had to be a wolf, not a dog, so that rules out Uni.” Akina reiterates.

“Probably could’ve found something out about the reaper…” Yuudai grumbles.

“Yuudai might be correct on this.” Hotaru adds.

Mari’s ahoge sticks up in shock, “Ah didn’t expect shortstuff to be saying that about Sluggah this early!”

“What’s that mean!?” Yuudai snaps. The light of understanding sputters on in his head, “H-Hey I’m not exactly a stranger when it comes to good ideas!”

“It’s impossible to track a wolf without any leads.” Hotaru continues, “We can’t even discern any abnormal footprints from the usual traffic in this area. Heck, most of my classmates use this door to get into school. It may be best to return to the school gate and see if we can pick out anything that may point to who the reaper is.”

Ranmaru walks over to the door, “You could do that, but th’ fourth wonder is in th’ school.”

“Seriously, we’re leaving this one too!?” Yuudai says, exasperated. He looks at his club, “It’s only 8pm, we still have the rest of the night to see them!”

“Well...Curfew is in an hour.” Hotaru says.

Ranmaru nods, “Plus I’m only showin’ y’all the spots. If we don’t make it through all of them tonight, then I don’t know when we can. Y’all can break curfew and investigate later.”

“...Fine.” Yuudai grumbles.

“Wait a minute. How’re we gettin’ in tha school if tha doors are locked?” Mari asks.

“Easy,” Ranmaru opens the door, “They don’t lock th’ side doors for some reason.”

“That’s so people can go in and get tutoring!” Rina says, pounding her fist into her palm.

Katsuki looks at the blonde. “How do you know that?”

Yuudai stops Katsuki, “Before that. The school offers tutoring!? You mean I don’t need to have Mari help me with my homework?”

Mari pouts, “Hay! Ah thought yew liked mah help!”

“I-I do!” Yuudai backpedals, “It’s just that you get mad if I answer a question wrong.”

“Even tha Buddha gets mad, Sluggah.”

“I get why she would get mad at you though.” Akina says.

“I’m not that bad with my homework! My grades are up from last year and I owe it all to you guys helping me!” Yuudai tries to gesture proudly to the third years.

“I’m never helping you with homework again.” Katsuki answers.

Ranmaru whistles again, “If’n yer done with this fight, we can go inside.”

The group sneaks into the school hall. It’s dimly lit, with only a faint outline of the floor visible.

Kirika looks around, a shiver runs down her spine, “This doesn’t feel right. Maybe we should leave before we get in trouble.”

Rina snickers as she walks past, “What’s the matter princess? Afraid of the dark?”

“I’m an elf. I can see in the dark,” Kirika says, proudly, “But I would rather not be caught trespassing and get expelled. That would be a black mark against the family’s good name!”

Rina thinks, “So…Do you hate being out in the daylight then?”

Kirika chuckles, “Like a proud tigress, my eyes can adapt to all levels of light. Not that a monkey would understand.”

Mari lightly chops Kirika on the crown of the head. “This monkey don’t take kindly ta folks bein’ called monkeys.”

Rina goes to argue but sighs, “I’m too tired to keep dealing with you.”

Yuuri walks up to Ranmaru, “So, what’s the next wonder?”

“Next wonder is in th’ teacher’s lounge.” Ranmaru begins, “Some have said they’ve seen a demon woman walking out of there late at night!”

“Demon woman?” Mari asks, “Y’mean a succubus?”

Ranmaru shrugs, “Maybe. No one’s ever gotten close enough to figure it out. They just say she has horns, and wings, and a tail.”

“How can people see her leave if we’re not allowed in here at night?” Yuuri continues.

“Probably all those kids leaving their tutoring.” Rina answers, “I haven’t seen anything though.”

Ranmaru thinks about what Rina said, “That makes sense considerin’ Chiya told me ‘bout it.”

“Maybe we should stop talking before we get caught.” Akina warns.

“By whom?” Katsuki counters, “Who would still be here to catch us?”

“The demon woman, of course,” Akina suggests, “Though I am beginning to think that it is just a teacher that the dumb kids in tutoring are not very fond of.”

Rina pouts, “Hey! We’re not all dumb! Some of us just need a little extra help...Besides, We have Ms. Parker as our advisor! I don’t even have to go in as much since she’s here helping us out!”

“I’ve seen you do your math homework,” Akina says. “There is no amount of help that teacher could provide.”

“Yew’d need divine intervention,” Mari adds.

Ranmaru shushes the conversation, dropping her voice to a whisper, “We’re almost at th’ teachers’ lounge. We’re going ta head in ta see if we can catch her.”

“Now we’re going to investigate!?” Yuudai whispers.

“We’re gonna peep in t’ see if anyone’s there! If it’s clear, then y’all can investigate some! Hush now.” Ranmaru slowly slides the door open so everyone can look in.

The lounge is a converted classroom decorated to look more like a living room ripped out of someone’s home. A suite of matching chairs and a couch occupy the center of the room with a small kitchen table sitting in one corner with a potted plant taking up the other. A television sits mounted to the back wall. It’s currently on and playing a drama, but muted. A head is barely visible on the couch with what look like horns jutting out their head.

“Shoot, she’s here!” Ranmaru whispers.

“An’ she watchin’ them weird dramas mah sistah watches.” Mari adds.

“Uhh, we can probably leave now.” Yuuri says, “We got our proof. We can come and investigate later!”

Ranmaru nods and slides the door shut. The group quietly begins making their way to the exit.

Yuudai grabs Rina’s shoulder as the rest of the group rounds a corner, “Hey, uh, you got a second?”

“Look, if you’re gonna ask me out, you could’ve at least waited until we were out of the school.” Rina stares at him with a smirk.

Yuudai locks up as his face goes bright red, “E-Eh!?”

Rina laughs, “I’m kidding! You’re not my type anyway.”

“A-Alright…” Yuudai breaks out of his stupor, “All I wanted to ask about was the tutoring thing.”

“Seriously!?” Rina groans, “This really could’ve waited until we were outside!”

Yuudai looks at the ground, twiddling his fingers. “I-I really didn’t want them to hear me asking about it…”

“You’re at least making the right choice,” Rina says. She puts a hand on Yuudai’s shoulder. “They’re pretty damn good in my opinion.”

Yuudai’s face begins to lighten up, “Good! How do I sign up?”

“You can sign up tomorrow morning,” a voice says from behind them.

Without warning, a hand drags them both back into the abyss of the school.