Tuesday, 05/28/XX
I rubbed the inner corner of my eyes with my index fingers, feeling the familiar remnants of a headache. I haven’t had one for the past couple of days, so I didn’t think of taking any painkillers this morning. I put my head down, deciding to close my eyes until class began. My gaze was fixed on the door as I started to zone out.
Within a blink of an eye, the boy with double braids stood within the door frame, his slender orbs shaking. He loomed there, his tracksuit open and white collared shirt disheveled, frozen in place as the school bell chimed.
"Fukuyama, please go to your seat." The teacher curtly ordered.
He nodded, walking to his desk with unsteady footsteps. He glanced at me through his unbrushed bangs. "What?" He whispered.
I gave him a puzzled look. “What took you so long?”
“Sorry, I got my period.”
“No wonder you were in a bad mood the other day.”
“Piss off will ya!”
"How'd you get here so fast?"
"I-I ran up here." He flashed his mischievous grin, but his eyes were shaking. I fixed the hood of my jacket without further interrogation, my doubt grew as Izuki stiffly turned back around right when our teacher class started. "Okay, class let's start on page...."
-
This morning wasn’t the only time Izuki was acting strange.
I: Meet ya at the vending machine?
J: Sure
R: Don’t take too long
I: Race ya there!
R: You’re on, punk. Last one there buys drinks
I rolled my eyes, laughing to myself. There’s no way he’d beat us.
Izuki’s classroom is two floors above ours, so I knew it was a definite win for me. Junya and I headed together as we had the same class before recess.
I stowed my phone away as we walked down the hall. “Pigtails is gonna make us late again,” I grumbled.
“I'm not so sure about that…” Junya pointed at the end of the hallway.
When I looked up, my eyes shot open.
There was Izuki, standing against the wall. When he saw me, a massive grin was plastered on his face.
I blinked in disbelief. “How did you get here before us?”
“I ran here,” Izuki replied coolly. I rolled my eyes at the redundancy of his responses. I couldn’t help but notice him hugging his stomach, his hands squeezing his tracksuit. “C’mon Ricchan, ya gonna buy me a drink or what?”
I glared at him as I reluctantly brought my wallet from my pants pocket.
My suspicions only grew as the day went on. Izuki disappeared in the middle of lunch and continued to arrive at class first despite Junya and I leaving before him. I couldn’t tell if it was because of the faint headache messing with my cognition or if there really was something going on.
After the final school bell, I gathered my belongings and threw my school bag over my shoulders. I massaged the back of my head to ease my pain as my phone started to buzz.
I tapped the answer button. “Hello?”
“Rito, are ya free right now?”
“Yeah, why?” I huffed.
“I need to tell ya something. Meet me at the bike racks on campus.”
“Can't you tell me now?”
“Nope.”
I sighed, exasperated. “Don’t you have practice, Izuki?”
“I-it got canceled. See ya soon!” He hastily shouted before hanging up.
I scrunched my nose feeling more confused than before.
After a few minutes of walking, I saw Izuki leaning against an empty bike rack. He stared down at his shoes, zipping and unzipping his jacket.
"Did you want to tell me something?" I called out.
He lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah, just don't make it too big of a deal, okay?" I nodded in reply, standing beside him. "I learned this today and it turns out I can..." His voice trailed off.
I leaned into his face. "Can what?"
“Teleport!" He shouted abruptly.
My stomach flipped. "What do you mean you can teleport?"
“Remember this morning?" He laughed weakly. His long fingers fidgeted with the stray thread of his track jacket. "I... Teleported to class." His words hung in the air, impossibly absurd, but not entirely impossible.
I wondered. "Hold on," I took my notepad from my bag and started writing.
“What are ya doing…?"
Ignoring his question, I continued, “Did anything else suspicious happen?"
“No, but when I teleport, I see darkness for one second before being somewhere completely new!” He shouted while twirling. “Also, I don’t have much control over it and feel queasy after teleporting.”
I put away the notepad with a sigh. “Well, let’s stay here for a bit. I’m waiting for someone.”
“I can teleport us to them!” Izuki beamed.
“Are you crazy?! You just said you can't control it.”
Izuki crossed his arms. “C’mon, I want to show ya what I can do.”
“Fine,” I surrendered to stop my headache from festering further. “I can’t believe you managed to teleport without anyone noticing,” I muttered, closing my eyes, as I stretched my stiff neck. I opened my eyes and saw I was alone. I got off the bike racks and surveyed the area, but Izuki was nowhere to be seen.
“Rito?” I heard a faint voice call out.
I cocked my head to the back and couldn’t stop my jaw from dropping.
“IZUKI DAMMIT!” I growled. “GET DOWN FROM THE ROOF!”
Izuki crouched and hugged his knees, trembling. “I don’t know how!”
I nervously clenched my teeth. “If you could do it this morning, you can do it now!”
Izuki nodded, rolling up his sleeves. He bent his knees, preparing to jump, but as soon as he lifted his arms, his eyes widened. Izuki covered his mouth, clenching his stomach.
“W-what's wrong?” I hollered.
“I feel like throwing up.”
In the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar duo. “Hey, Rito!” Mita-senpai greeted me cheerfully. “What are you shouting at?”
I pointed to the roof. The couple followed my finger and their faces were instantly drawn with confusion. Suddenly, Mita-senpai's eyebrows lifted in surprise. His eyes shone gold and soon an indigo.
“You contacted us because of some maniac?” Natsuki deadpanned.
“That maniac is my friend, unfortunately,” I replied.
“Rito, who are those people?” Izuki called out weakly.
“Well,” Mita-senpai started in an assertive voice, “let’s get him down shall we?”
Natsuki nodded, rolled up the sleeves of his blazer, and started to mount the wall. Mita-senpai quickly grabbed hold of Natsuki’s waist before he could climb any further. “Not today.” He reproached.
That gave me flashbacks… I thought to myself.
“If we aren’t climbing then he should jump off.” Natsuki groused.
“He’ll die!” I panicked. My heart pounded at the thought of Izuki plummeting to the ground.
“I-I rather throw up trying to teleport.” Izuki placed his wobbling feet down but quickly crouched again as he teetered forward.
Natsuki took off his blazer and cracked his knuckles. “Not unless I catch him.”
He widened his stance and held his hands out, glaring up at Izuki. I couldn't stop thinking about how menacing yet overly confident Natsuki could be.
We spent ten minutes trying to convince Izuki to teleport back down. As a safety measure, Natsuki would catch Izuki if he were to fall. Izuki finally succeeded in teleporting to the ground, but it came at the cost of his lunch. I patted Izuki on the back to comfort him, relieved that he was on the ground safe.
Once Izuki felt less nauseous, Mita-senpai gave him the same explanation I received.
“Take this.” Mita-senpai handed him a purple notepad.
He looked down, dumbfounded. “I-I still don't understand.”
I sighed. “Just follow what they say. It's easier that way.”
Mita-senpai’s eyes lit up. “That reminds me! Rito, you mentioned there’s another boy who might have superpowers.” I nodded in response. Mita-senpai smiled at Natsuki. “Natsuki, dear, you know what to do.”
Natsuki blinked and walked away. I didn’t want to question anything seeing how threatening he looked earlier.
“Izuki, I’ll explain more to you later, but for now, the notepad I handed to you is a way for us to communicate.”
Izuki pursed his lips. “Why a notebook?”
“Not just a notebook,” Mita-senpai nodded. “No enemy will be able to tamper with our conversations. It's for our privacy and safety.”
I could tell Izuki wasn’t processing anything as he nodded with his mouth ajar.
-
Mita-senpai and Natsuki finally provided Izuki with a thorough explanation through “text”.
I: Guys if this is a prank I'm not being fooled
R: Izuki, it isn't…
I: YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO KILL US?!
R: Yes, please stop shouting
I: Ok fine, but… Do I have to fight?
A: Yes
N: Yes.
R: Yes
A: Rito, what’s the name of the first year you met recently?
I: The guy Rito hit on?
A: Oop-
My lead snapped as I pressed my mechanical pencil into the notebook. “I'M GONNA SNAP HIS LONG LEGS—” I aggressively started writing.
I: It's ok to admit the boy was hot, Rito
R: BE QUIET
A: Natsuki tried to find him. If I can meet him I can confirm if he is the one.
I: WHAT IF…
R: Izuki don't you dare
I: He already thinks ya like him. What if ya ask him out on a date and then Mita-senpai can meet him?
R: Wouldn't that be weird if Mita-senpai came on the date too? Also what if he rejects me?
I: Then have Mita-senpai go on the date
N: Not a chance.
A: Sorry babes, I'm taken
R: You want me to go on a fake date?!
A: That's not a bad idea…
R: NOT YOU TOO
A: See if you can somehow find a way for him to use his powers
R: Fine, what the hell…
A: Alrighty! First ask to meet in person, hang out with him, and then let us know if he is a supernatural
R: Ok, I'll contact him
I: I love ya, Ricchan ♡
R: I hate you
A: Thank you for your sacrifice, youngin’
I slammed the notebook and put my head down on my desk. I knew this was for the betterment of the world, but I didn't have it in me to go on a date since I'd never been on one. My mind wandered, imagining what it would be like to go on a date with Matsuoka. My lips smiled widely thinking about the different ideas of cliche dates couples do.
I shook my head. There's no way someone as popular as him would even look my way. Matsuoka is the same year as me, but he has different friends, different hobbies, and different tastes than me. I’m invisible to him.
I picked up my phone. “Maybe I have a chance with Kouji…” I said to myself. I pulled up Kouji’s contact and sent a message to him. To my surprise, he replied quickly.
K (Nishikawa Kouji): Sure, can we meet after school on Friday?
R: Sounds good, see you by the library
I closed my phone and aggressively ruffled my hair. “I'm still gonna kick Izuki’s ass.”
