Leiji Khan, in the prime of his youth had been preparing to step into a higher form of education, he mentions his excitement, yet no one seems to believe him. His semi-spiked almost black hair was slightly pulled back with his pink bandana tied around his head. Patterned with brighter pink hydrangeas across it, and a pale pastel jacket matching in tone as the tank beneath was more adjacent to lavender. The insignia of Pink Isle was embroidered well on the back of the jacket. Bottoms only came in the facet of vibrant pink cargo pants that may have been a tad short, as his shins could be seen; not high enough though to notice any knee. With his plain sneakers, he headed off with his friend Jimi. Some would state that Jimi was more stylish. The two boys would tidy their things and head out of the room with a young woman following them shortly. The room left behind had album covers plastered over the walls with an electric-yellow guitar hanging above the large mattress in the center. The wide windows which sprawled, illuminated all inside the room.
Outside held peach sands and a cool sour breeze that tickled the nose. The saturated pink hue of the Sola Ute's reflection over the ocean waters shimmered in the eyes of those who gazed. A figure of a man with a unicycle for a head and gloves for sleeves kicked beneath himself, creating a pink cloud. The pounding sound of a ball against asphalt drummed leisurely. The pounding grew louder and louder as the image of a short cyan haired boy dribbling crossed by the beach's fence. The rails warping the note of the beat. The gleaming eyes of the figure eclipsed violently as a chill trickled up the boy's scalp, shaking him into holding the ball. Three more individuals came down the hill side. Out the corner of Mildred's eye went shimmer shimmer, in the glaring second a puff of sand flew in the air and the figure disappeared.
"Yo! Jinu, what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be heading to school," Jimi said cheerfully.
"I'm taking my time!"
"Taking your time! Jinu you're incredibly delusional. Go to class, stop wasting time dribbling a stupid ball and do something productive!" Jimi grinned with profound confidence.
"Look who's talking, you don't even know how to play a guitar! I'm not so delusional to pretend like I wouldn't need to practice to be good. Each and everyone of you Xykens are so full of yourselves," Jinu scoffed as he began to bounce his ball once more.
Looking disgruntled, Jimi continued in response as he treaded down the hill. "Urgh…I do have talent you midget! That's the main reason why I'm giving you such advice, to fools like you who have no skills no matter what they do. You should give up and listen to those who know what they are talking about!" Jimi held a peeved expression.
"Ya right, says the one who still believes in them ghost stories. Why not stop pretending to be so tough and wise."
"Those stories are true. I heard Mint went missing, plus a couple other kids. If you were really smart I would recommend—"
Right before he could finish his sentence Mildred tapped his shoulder, and with a stern look, gave multiple hand gestures.
"Fine, fine. Mildred is in a huff. If you're not going to school, then you should head back to the orphanage. It's been dangerous lately. I've seen Yaffa at the arcade recently, it seems she's really hooked, we may pass by and play a couple rounds later. And who knows, maybe that constant ball dribbling of yours will pay off if we run into Joe as well. I think he lives over there, so maybe we can see a rematch. Hmm, Jinu, don't be so schmuck, mate, with age comes wisdom, and I got loads of it."
"You're really rolling it today, and to point out, ya ain't much older, a year is not some big'ah difference. Even Leiji doesn't mush it in peoples faces. Man, is being rich not enough for you?"
"Yes, yes, because today is a good day, I'll let this slide. Now come on…are you coming with us or not."
"Hey when did…haah…"
Wrapping his arm around Jinu's neck, the three began moving forward with Mildred following behind. Their excessive banter over many continued on like a never ending… Minutes later and the cycle headed figure peered from the corner of Mildred's eye once again. To only disappear once more. A minute passed again and Mildred had slipped off quietly. Her figure gone, Jimi seemed to not notice, nor care as Leiji was the only one to glance back at the silent shadows behind them.
The peer bobbed and slanted, under the glassy ravine a picturesque snowy valley could be seen beneath the water's surface. Night sundered and the hay basket swayed as stone walls flung up, the outside inked in pitch black darkness. Twenty four chairs lay, figures slowly fizzing into place. Seated were they. Khan's classmates, with Jimi to his left.
"Hmm, what's going on…everything is so fuzzy," Leiji mumbled.
"He-Hey, Leiji! Ya hear me?" Jimi clamored.
"Huh!" Frazzled, Leiji jostled his body as he stared at Jimi.
"Damn, still waking up huh. I'll cut to the chase, look at the windows."
They were black, but not like you couldn't see out of them. The dimensions were there, yet no actual form could be seen. The nothingness was enchanting, Leiji looked long into it as his body drew nearer. Touching the window gave a feeling of escape and warmth throughout his body. Softly sliding his slim fingers across the frame, rubbing his thumb and index together showed no visible dust.
"What's happening?" Leiji said groggily.
"I arrived an hour ago, though it could be longer. None of the clocks in this building are on at the same time. When I came back from checking out the place with a couple other guys, I saw your figure appear and have been trying to wake ya up for the past few minutes."
"I-I see. Is that all you know?"
"Ya, well for now anyway. Some other people arrived, but I haven't seen them come back. None of the teachers are around, it's just a few people, don't even know if any more upperclassmen are around. Only one I saw was Hoyes, and he went downstairs to look for Judar. I was thinking of going upstairs to see if Joe also appeared. But right down the hall are these weird guards or whatever. No one so far has wanted to mess with them, yet."
"Guards?"
"It would be better to just see for yourself."
"Okay, but wait if there are guards, then where did everyone who was here earlier go and how did Hoyes head downstairs?"
"C'mon, Leiji my guy, did you forget the entire layout of our school? Come, look out the door. See there, down the right hall is where the restrooms are, the one way stairs are there. Though they are only for emergencies, obviously this would call for their use. Around the corner to the regular stairs, that hall is blocked off in the middle by some sort of guard. The left hall on the other hand is different, and I hope you remember why for that one at least."
The left hall, our class, emergency stairs. Has my brain been fried?
"There is a tunnel behind the last student council election poster, a large hole Jeanne made. We covered it up right before mid-terms. Also there are no windows and cameras down that hall."
"Correct. Well for now some from our class and a few from another class went downstairs."
"Who has arrived so far?" Leiji asked with a concerned expression.
"Mikel, Laziryth, Dime, and those two with the weird eyes. I didn't really get to talk to them for very long, there could be more. I did see some others who were not from our class, so I kinda just didn't bother remembering them. Oh! Well looky here, someone is showing up."
Turning their heads back, a fizzy smoke like aura fumed in a seat at the back left corner of the room. There he sat, Jeanne, tall and lanky, dressed in black double-breasted military garment. His sleeves and back are decorated with orchids laced in white and gold. His long striking black hair covered over his ears down his shoulders. Strands fluttering in front of his face, making the charcoal eyeshadow murky in appearance. His most prominent feature was the glamorously glimmering black diamond encrusted mask with silk bands camouflaging into his smooth and glossy hair. Covering a part of his chin up to his nose, a muffled movement could be seen beneath as a grumbled noise wheezed out and his large dead fish eyes opened.
"It really is him," Leiji said dryly.
"Oddly enough, my worries have settled somewhat. With this guy, together with us, shit, I think we can stomp those guards right now."
"Mmm, I don't know, other than Jinu, Jackie, or Jarri, who could convince the guy to come with us?"
"True, true. I don't know entirely what's going on. The outside looks like nothing, so it may just be us and the school. If so, well then, Jackie and Jarri are out of the question."
"Hmm, ya, they're a few years ahead. If we assume that this building is the only one and subsequently anything connected to it as well. Then the best option is Jinu, but…"
"He's a scaredy goat and wouldn't risk trying to go up the floors if guys like them are blocking the way."
"Goat," Leiji mumbled beneath his breath, "Even still, one way to put some courage in him is…"
"To make a bet."
"We have nothing to entice him with."
"Hmm, maybe Joe."
"How's that gonna work?"
"Simple, Joe lives right by the orphanage and helps Jinu out with his basketball practices. Joe is older than us and would most likely appear on the upper floors. Thirdly, Yaffa. Yaffa doesn't give a shit about Joe or Jinu, but…" Jimi gave a sideline look at Leiji then back at the half asleep Jeanne. "If you beg her, actually all you would have to do is ask once, and in less than a heartbeat she'd be threatening both Jeanne and Jinu."
"Huh, if we're just gonna piss her off then I don't see a point in even bothering with the convincing approach."
"Well she's a last option, and it would only work if you tried it."
"Why me, really, she never gets like that with you."
Man, Leiji, sometimes you're smart, but how does he not get it? Well whatever, it makes me feel less bad if he's just ignorant of it all.
"Alright then. That's the plan, shall we head down then?"
"Shouldn't we bring Jeanne?"
"Of course not, we need him here to beat up some guards, no point bringing him down. Jinu needs to come up."
"Hmm, but won't he cause a commotion once he wakes?"
"Hey Leiji Khan, I don't know if you knocked your head on the trip over, but how can ya forget so much. Plus your extra talkative, is this how you think of yourself in your dreams? Just listen to me, don't bother with the guy, unless someone comes up to kill him, he won't move a muscle."
Jimi then waved his hand in a flamboyant flap as he stepped out the door, quietly heading to the emergency staircase. Each step left a sharp squeaking pinch from his stiff leather boots. The eerie air stilled with each step sounding that much louder.