The moment all 4 first-year classes gathered in Sumaru Park, the teachers wasted no time.
Kojiro clapped his hands sharply. "Alright, lambs! Line up! It's pairing time."
Groans rippled through the crowd. Ren muttered, "Man... I just hope I'm not getting stuck with some weirdo."
Daiki elbowed him lightly. "You're saying that like you're not a weirdo."
Yui glanced between the two boys, her expression soft but worried. "I hope I'm paired with one of you... We work well as a team."
Daiki nodded in agreement until Kojiro raised a clipboard and spoke the words that sealed their fate.
"Pairs will be cross-class. No requests. No trades."
A collective "ugh" spread across the park.
Masataka stepped forward, a stern expression on his face. "When your name is called, get with your partner and go to Instructor Shimizu for your assignment."
Names started flying.
"Takagi Ren, paired with Kusunoki Taiga."
Ren blinked. "Who?"
A muscular boy with spiky, unruly bright orange hair waved energetically. A grin popped on Ren's face.
"Maybe he won't be so bad...!"
"Tsukiko Yui, paired with Kanazaki Mei."
Yui nodded politely to the almost noble-looking girl approaching her. Before Daiki could give a supportive smile, Kojiro's voice rang out again.
"Fushino Daiki."
A cold sweat ran down Daiki's face, not knowing who'd he be paired with.
"...paired with Ayanami Jimmu."
Daiki froze.
From behind him, a lazy voice answered, "Yeah, fine."
Daiki turned, and there he was.
The boy from the bus, sitting down on a bench.
The pale, messy-haired, half-awake gremlin who had threatened to open the emergency exit because Ren was humming.
Jimmu didn't even stand up at first. He just stared at Daiki with disinterest, hands in pockets, posture slouched like gravity was his number 1 enemy or something.
Daiki swallowed.
Great. Partnered with the psycho.
He forced a grin. "Uh... hey! I'm Daik-"
"Don't care," Jimmu said instantly, standing up and stepping past him.
Daiki blinked. "...I wasn't done introducing myself."
"You never needed to start," Jimmu replied flatly.
Daiki stared at him, offended on like... a personal level.
From right behind them, Ren cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "GOOD LUCK, PRINCESS!"
Daiki clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, so he wouldn't say something he would regret.
Even if he did shout back, Ren probably wouldn't have heard him because he was already prancing off with his new best friend.
Jimmu didn't react. He just started walking toward Shimizu, hands in his pockets, expression still completely unbothered.
Daiki jogged after him. "Hey, wait up! We're a team, remember?"
"Unfortunately."
Daiki's eyes twitched. "Ya know, you could try not being an asshole."
"I could," Jimmu said calmly. "But I don't think I will."
Daiki opened his mouth, ready to argue, but they reached Instructor Shimizu before he could.
She handed Daiki a slip of paper. "Your assigned location is the South Abandoned Arcade. Investigate thoroughly and neutralize any threats that you can handle."
"An arcade...?" Daiki perked up. "Like, games? Claw machines? Retro stuff?"
Shimizu gave him a look that suggested she had precisely zero patience for nonsense. "Yes. And unless you want to repeat, don't play anything."
"Aw man."
Jimmu snatched the paper from Daiki, glancing at it once before turning away. "Let's get this over with."
"Hold on, wait for me!" Daiki hurried after him again. "It's like you don't care if I stay behind."
"Correct."
Daiki groaned loudly. "Holy shit, you're impossible."
Jimmu shrugged. "People keep saying that."
Mushin City thinned out quickly as they walked, storefronts growing older, the streets got quieter. Eventually, they reached a boarded-up two-story building with a flickering neon sign that was barely hanging on.
STARLIGHT ARCADE
Except half the letters had burnt out, making it read:
_T A IG T RC D _
Daiki stared. "...Looks cozy."
Jimmu stepped up, but instead of checking it out, he just... stared at a grain of wood.
Daiki blinked. "Uh.... Jimmu?"
"Hm?" Jimmu refocused like he'd just returned from a completely different dimension. He knocked his hand against the board. It creaked.
"Place is dead. No sound. Very little Reiki movement."
Daiki squinted. "What does that mean?"
"I can feel it," Jimmu said simply. "The layout of the Reiki flow is-"
He paused, then looked at Daiki.
"...Actually, that's too complicated for someone like you."
"Wow," Daiki muttered. "Love the confidence."
Jimmu pushed the door open enough to slip inside, already wandering three steps inside.
"Stay close. Don't touch anything. Don't talk unless it matters."
He paused.
"And if something tries to eat you, scream away from me."
"Wow... you really care for your classmates, man."
Jimmu hummed absently, already drifting away from Daiki again. "Mm."
Daiki followed him like a kid at a mall.
The abandoned arcade began to swallow the duo whole. It was like a tomb of flickering lights. Dust lay thick on every surface. Half-dead screens crackled with weak static. A crane game's claw twitched randomly, unnervingly alive. Prizes and plushies lay in their boxes, faces wrapped from age.
Daiki whispered, "Creepy..."
Jimmu didn't respond at first.
He was staring into a busted coin slot, his brows wrinkled as if he was learning secrets beyond the knowledge of man. Then, out of nowhere, he crouched beside a smashed cabinet, his fingertips hovering over a dark scorch mark on the floor.
"Something was here," he murmured.
Daiki swallowed hard. "Yurei...?"
"Yes."
Jimmu stood up slowly... then turned his head to a wire that dangled from the ceiling, swaying even though the air was still. He watched it for a full three seconds before remembering he was in the middle of a conversation.
"Recently, too.
Daiki felt a nervous sweat fall from his forehead. "Then...that means..."
Jimmu's voice dropped to a whisper, his gaze suddenly sharp and focused.
"We're not alone in here, after all."
Then, just as the tension peaked...
He blinked.
"...Also, someone left a soda can on that machine up there. Must've been a pretty tall person."
"...Jimmu!"
His attention snapped back. "Right. Not alone. Stay alert."