The afternoon sun had not yet fully descended toward the horizon, but a strange, heavy silence hung over the school corridors. The amber light, filtering through the glass windows, cast elongated, distorted shadows against the walls. Just as Sima prepared to round the final corner of the hallway, a sudden, icy shiver raced down her spine. Someone—someone far too familiar yet unwelcome at this moment—had gripped her shoulder from behind. The pressure of the fingers was unnaturally firm.
Sima's heart skipped a beat. Trembling, she slowly turned her head only to see Toko, the ever-mischievous troublemaker, standing there. A playful glint danced in his eyes, and his lips were curled into that trademark crooked smirk that never failed to provoke her.
Widening her eyes in a mix of irritation and lingering fear, Sima drawled, "Toko! What is wrong with you? If you suddenly grab someone like that in a dark corridor, you'll give them a heart attack! Do you have no common sense at all?"
Toko withdrew his hand and shoved it into his pocket. Scratching his head with a quick flick, he let out a broad grin. "Hey, am I some kind of cursed spirit that you'd turn pale before I even touch you? You won't move a single step without me anyway, so I thought, why is my shadow walking alone? Come on, instead of wandering off by yourself, let's head to the cafeteria. I'm starving."
Sima let out a long sigh to steady herself. As she walked toward the cafeteria, she thought to herself that Toko would always be Toko—utterly impossible to change. Dust motes danced in the sunlight of the corridor, like the eerie stillness before an approaching storm.
Down in the cafeteria, the rich aroma of curry and steamed rice filled the air. The harsh midday sun had mellowed. The two sat side-by-side, bickering over trivial things. Toko tried to steal a potato from Sima's bowl while she chased his hand away with her spoon. Sima, however, had no inkling that behind this mundane afternoon, a terrifying destiny lay in wait for them.
After finishing their meal, as they were climbing the stairs to the upper floor, a blood-curdling scream erupted from Classroom 4. It was Kima. The shriek was so piercing that the windowpanes in the adjacent room seemed to vibrate. Sima and Toko exchanged startled glances—was there some new danger within the school walls?
Clutching their bags, they sprinted to the classroom and threw themselves against the door. But the sight inside made their eyes narrow; irritation and laughter began to battle within them.
Standing right in the middle of the classroom, perched atop a chair, was Kima. Her uniform was disheveled, a thick history book was clutched in her hands, and she was shaking uncontrollably. In the corner of the floor, a small, brown cockroach was fluttering its wings, while Kima brandished the book, frantically gesturing for it to leave. Tears of genuine terror had pooled in the corners of her eyes.
"What is wrong with you?" Toko asked, nearly collapsing against the doorframe from laughter. "You're bringing the whole school down because of one tiny cockroach? I thought a robber had broken in!"
Seeing them, Kima screamed even louder, "Don't laugh, Toko! This isn't just any cockroach! Can't you see how it's trying to fly right at me? This is a killer insect!" Sima lowered her head, shielding her forehead with her hand. She simply didn't have the patience for Kima's dramatics today.
The final bell signaled the end of school, and the corridors were instantly flooded with noise once more. The afternoon sun had taken on a deep orange hue. In the parking lot, Sima and Kima were retrieving their bicycles. Dust swirled with the friction of the tires, and the scent of wild flowers drifted in from the school garden.
Toko stood there, looking like a helpless beggar on the street. Having no ride of his own, he clutched his school bag tightly with one hand, watching them mount their bikes with a pathetic, longing expression. His wide eyes seemed to plead for mercy.
Sima and Kima were laughing so hard they nearly fell off their bicycles. Their laughter was so intense that tears began to stream down their faces. Pouting, Toko said in a pitiful voice, "Are you really going to leave me here in this desert? Am I such a stranger that you'd head home alone?"
Suppressing her laughter, Sima rang her bicycle bell with a sharp ting. "Fine, fine. Come on. You can sit on the back of my bike."
But Toko suddenly hesitated. Some mischievous spark must have ignited within his mind. He hung Sima's bag and his own on the front handlebars and hopped onto the rider's seat himself. Surprised, Sima said, "You're going to ride? Well, as long as your hands don't shake, go ahead. I don't mind."
Toko replied in a stern voice, "Stop rambling and just sit firmly in the back." Sima felt a wave of nervousness. As she placed her hands near Toko's back, her heart gave a sudden thud. In a shy, hushed tone, she whispered near Toko's ear, "Listen... ride slowly, okay? Don't pick up too much speed."
Toko didn't say a word; he simply gripped the handlebars tightly. A strange sense of joy bloomed within him. With Sima sitting behind him and the afternoon breeze disheveling their hair, he wondered—was this childhood friendship finally shifting toward an unspoken love? Toko knew in his heart that Sima was more precious to him than life itself.
After crossing the main city road, they entered an alley. Suddenly, Toko veered the bicycle into a narrow, dimly lit, downward-sloping path—a place where the asphalt had crumbled, leaving jagged stones exposed.
Sima shrieked in panic, "Toko! Our house isn't this way! Why are you going into this narrow alley? Has the map gone crazy?"
Wiping away sweat with one hand, Toko held the mobile map before her eyes. "The map shows that if we go this way, we'll arrive in five minutes. It's a direct shortcut." But on the screen, a vast dark field and a mysterious, nameless academy were visible.
Kima was trailing behind on her own bicycle. She suddenly noticed Sima and Toko had vanished from her sight. "Did they enter that hellish alley? That road drops off like a mountain cliff. If the brakes fail, their bones won't stand a chance!" To save them, Kima quickly steered her bike down into the slope.
But Toko and Sima were already caught in a terrifying situation. As the alley ended, the road suddenly dropped at a sharp 90-degree angle. The bicycle tires began to emit smoke from the friction. Due to the sheer velocity of the wind, their bodies began to lift off the seat. Sima nearly burst into tears, clutching Toko's shirt desperately.
Toko fought to jam the brakes, but gravity was dragging them into a bottomless abyss. Hearing their blood-curdling screams, residents from nearby houses peered through their windows to see a pair of teenagers seemingly falling from the sky on a bicycle. At that moment, a massive truck roared past them, its horn blaring. The cold breath of death brushed against their skin.
The bicycle lost control and soared over a vast field, floating in mid-air. Sima and Toko were separated from the bike, suspended in the wind! They flailed their limbs, trying to survive. Looking down at the ground, Sima felt that today was her final day.
Just as they were a mere five inches above the ground—at the very second their bones should have shattered—time seemed to freeze. The howling of the wind stopped. They didn't crash. An invisible force, like a soft, plush cushion, lowered them gently onto the earth.
Sima slowly opened her eyes to find them standing in the middle of an unknown, vast, and regal campus. The environment was supernatural. Standing before them was a tall young man. A long staff rested on his shoulder, and a silver blade at the tip of the staff shimmered in the sunlight.
The young man reached out a hand with great elegance and said, "Hi."
Sima stared, dumbfounded. "Who are you? And how did we get here from that hell?" Though she wasn't in much pain, Sima remained on the ground, pretending her leg was broken. When the boy reached out toward Sima, a fierce jealousy flared within Toko. He leapt up and demanded, "What is this place? And who are you to drag us here like this?"
Sima grabbed Toko by the hair in a rage. "This is all because of you! You stupid monkey! Because of your map, we've ended up in some haunted place."
The mysterious boy spoke in a calm voice. "Calm down. You haven't been hurt because I assisted you in coming here."
Sima suddenly turned to him and asked sharply, "You brought us here? Why? And who are you? I've never seen you at school before!"
The boy smiled faintly. His eyes were as deep as sapphires. He introduced himself in a grave tone—
"My name is Gogoma Yuchi. I am a student of the R5 class at Genkasu School and High School Academy."
Sima's eyes widened. "What did you say? Genkasu Academy? But we were near our school! How did you bring us here from 1.5 kilometers away?"
Yuchi tapped his staff against the ground and looked at Toko with a strange gaze. His voice shifted, taking on a mechanical solemnity—
"The matter is a bit complex for your ordinary minds. I controlled Toko's brain for a few moments. Using my Kuhatsu power, I fractured his 'concept of distance.' As a result, he didn't even realize when he changed his path."
It felt as though the ground had vanished beneath Sima's feet. "Brain control? Kuhatsu power? Are you some kind of robot? That's scientifically impossible!"
Yuchi gave a mysterious smile and closed his eyes. When he opened them, a brilliant blue glow emanated from his pupils. He spoke in a cold, chilling voice—
"In this world, every object and every life possesses a specific 'concept' or attribute. And I can tear those attributes apart like paper. This is the true form of Kuhatsu power..."