"Oi, Aika. Are you okay?"
Ai was sitting at her desk, with Mii and Mai sitting at their desks behind her. Mai, wearing the school uniform, had short brown hair ending at her chin, with brown eyes matching her hair. Mii had longer purple-black hair, going halfway down her back. Her eyes also matched her hair, but she was wearing glasses as well. The three of them were staring at Aika, who had just arrived for the morning classes. Of course, they were staring because of her hair, as it was still purple, seemingly remaining even after she got rid of her astral dress and her angel.
"Uhh, yeah. I just wanted to try something new..."
Aika tried to dodge the question. Honestly, she wasn't even sure of a proper excuse to give them. She considered telling them about the whole spirit thing, but there was no way they would believe her, and honestly, it could be dangerous for them to know.
"Aika, you know you can talk to us if something's going on."
"I know, but I'm okay."
She really wanted to tell them, especially Ai, but a mix of fear and worry were preventing her from talking. Of course they weren't the only people staring at her; most of the class was. However, while most were staring out of curiosity, one was a mix of hatred and fear. Aika glanced at the girl glaring daggers at her, Tobiichi Origami. Of course it wasn't too much of a shock after what happened yesterday, but it still hurt. Tobiichi noticed Aika catching her glare and quickly looked away. Aika sat at her desk as the teacher walked in and started the class.
The bell rang, signaling the start of lunch.
"Come on Aika, let's go eat."
She glanced over at Tobiichi, who actually held eye contact this time.
"Sorry you three, I have something I need to talk about with Tobiichi-san."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it's important."
"sigh, okay, we'll leave you to it then."
As the class left, the only people left in the room were Aika and Tobiichi.
"We should probably go somewhere more private," Aika said.
Tobiichi gave a light nod, clearly still on guard in case Aika tried anything. Aika led her to the roof, a place most people don't go out of fear of getting in trouble with the teachers.
"You don't have to be so wary you know. I'm not gonna hurt you." The roof was empty, with metal fencing surrounding it, a precaution to make sure people wouldn't accidentally fall off. There was a forest to the back and left of the school, creeping up a steep hill. To the right, a large space with a dirt track for running, and the gym just beyond that. Out front was a simple road with a few houses along it, which eventually led into the main city. Aika was leaning against the railing, her arms crossed on top of it, as she looked out over the field with her purple hair blowing in the wind. Tobiichi was standing a short distance behind her, still clearly on edge.
"I don't believe you."
"Why?"
"Because you're a spirit."
"I only became a spirit yesterday."
"I don't believe you."
Aika turned her head, her eyes questioning why. "So you think I was a spirit all this time and was just lying to you this past month?"
"Yes."
"..."
"..."
"Why do you hate spirits so much?"
"Whenever you show up, you destroy everything around you, and then you use your powers to kill people." Her hands clenched tighter in anger.
Aika had now turned around, facing Tobiichi, leaning on her elbows, which were resting on the metal railing.
"So you think I'm a monster who kills people?"
Tobiichi didn't respond, just holding her glare.
"Then why are you still alive?"
Her eyes widened in shock, and she opened her mouth to answer, but there was nothing she could think of—no reason why the spirit wouldn't have killed her yesterday.
"If I was this murderous monster like you think I am, then wouldn't you, your comrades, and everyone in this school be dead?"
Tobiichi's thoughts were racing; she was trying to find something—anything—that could clear up this reason, but it didn't make sense. After all, she attacked Aika, and Aika chose to let her live instead of killing her right then and there. As far as she was aware, any spirit would have killed her then and there.
"sigh, look, I don't know why you hate spirits so much, and I don't expect you to tell me, but I don't want to fight you, even if you look amazing while doing it."
She waited a few moments, wanting to hear what Tobiichi would say, but she was stuck in her own mind, conflicting ideas and thoughts racing around her head. Aika let out a sigh and walked past her, heading down the stairs to the roof and going to the cafeteria to get lunch.
"Aika-san, what did you talk to Tobiichi-san about?" Mai questioned her as soon as she sat down.
"Yes Aika-sama, please tell us."
"It's private and not my place to speak about. Also, why did you add sama to the end, Mii-chan?"
"With your new purple hair, you look like a goddess. So I had to address you like a goddess."
"Rrriiiiggghhtt." Mii had always been a little eccentric, and Aika still wasn't used to it.
"So, Ai, are the four of us going for ice cream after school?"
"Yeah, but you don't have to put up an act, you can be yourself around us."
"Huh, an act?" Mai asked.
"Did something happen?" Mii added.
Ai looked at Aika, asking for approval to tell them what happened, but Aika shook her head.
"I'll explain it."
The two girls looked at her, hints of worry in their eyes.
"...yesterday, I was rejected."
"Oh."
"What!? Who could reject Aika-sama!?"
"Quite down Mii-chan! But honestly, so much happened yesterday that I'm still kind of sorting my thoughts."
"Wait, what else happened?" Ai asked.
"Oh I screwed this up. How am I going to explain spirits, the AST, the way Itsuka-kun acted, and Tobiichi-san without revealing any of that?" She thought before deciding to just push it back to later.
"Sorry, I'm still not sure how to explain it, let me take a bit to sort it out in my head."
"Alright, just let us know if something bad is going on."
"Yep, we'll help out!"
"Thanks guys, but that's enough of that, I'm starving. Did you buy me a melon bread Ai?"
"...You know, I'm kind of annoyed that you just assumed I did."
"So, did you?"
"...Yeah."
"Haha, are we gonna Rock, Paper, Scissors it, or do you want me to pay you back for it?"
Her fist was already on the table.
"Damn, wanna lose that badly?"
"NO! I will win today!"
"In that case, Rock!"
"Paper!"
"Scissors!"
"Shoot!"
"Eighteen to five huh?"
"Aika-sama is just too good."
The girls were now back in the classroom, and with Ai having lost yet again, she was now lying her body on her desk in defeat.
"Can she read her mind or something?"
"Maybe... it is Aika-sama."
"Okay, it's weird with you talking about me like that when I'm sitting right here."
"Aika-san, you're just too good to be normal."
"Aika-sama is really living up to the sama part."
"Please stop, this is getting weird."
Suddenly, Ai jolted up and, grabbing Aika's hands, spoke.
"Aika-sama! Please teach me your ways!"
"NOT YOU TOO AI!"
They were silent for a second before all of them burst out laughing.
"Seriously though Aika, you gotta tell us how you're so good." She said while still breathing heavily.
"Honestly, I'm not sure." Aika was still laughing a little as she spoke. "I kind of just know what you're gonna play... Actually, maybe I can read minds."
"Aika... you're too powerful for this world."
"Aika-san is way too strong."
"Indeed, Aika-sama is too amazing for mere mortals."
"Geez! Please just go back to normal already!" Aika was finding this to be a bit too much as she crashed her arms and head onto the desk. The doors opened with students coming back from lunch. Aika spotted Tobiichi, who quickly glanced at her, making eye contact for a moment before just as quickly breaking away.
"Well, it makes sense. It will probably take her a while to trust me, but at least she's thinking about what I said. Wait, what's really going on with her and Itsuka-kun? Kotori-san mentioned how he was romantically pursuing spirits to seal their powers, but Tobiichi-san definitely isn't a spirit. So was he really interested in her then? UUGGGHHH! WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED!?" She shouted in her mind, her face scrunching in annoyance. She turned her attention to the teacher who had just walked in, trying to focus on the class rather than figure out what was happening with Itsuka and Tobiichi.
"Okay Aika, how did you get him to let you off the hook? He's not someone to let it go so easily."
"Simple Ai. Diarrhea."
The four of them were now sitting in an ice cream shop, each with an ice cream in hand. They were referring to the excuse she used to stop the teacher from punishing her after skipping class yesterday.
"Wait, it was really that easy?"
"Yeah, just gotta play into the part. I'm so sorry; it was really, really bad. I'm so lucky no one came into the bathroom, or there's no way people wouldn't know what was happening in there." She recreated what she had said to the teacher, playing up the irony in her voice.
"Haha, I'm gonna steal that Aika-san."
"Alright Mai-san, but don't use it too often."
"Yeah, I know. I've been coming up with excuses to dodge detention far longer than you have."
The four of them talked about mindless stuff to try and get Aika's thoughts off of whatever was going on with her. Eventually, they decided to head home, with Mai and Mii walking in one direction while Ai and Aika walked in the other.
"Aika, why don't we take a little detour?"
"Okay, where do you wanna go?"
"It's a secret."
Ai grabbed Aika's hand, pulling her along as they walked, eventually leading her up a small mountain where a children's playground stood, as well as a lookout over the entire city. By this point, the sun was setting, casting an orange glow over the city below. The two of them were leaning on a railing, looking out over the orange city.
"Aika, you can talk to me, okay?"
"..."
"I only met you a month ago, but I already consider you my best friend, so please, tell me what's happening with you."
"...I want to... there's so much I want to talk about... but I'm scared."
"...Why are you scared?"
"...At my last school, I had someone I considered my best friend... I told her who I had a crush on, and... she told everyone in the school."
"...I'm sorry."
"No, what's worse is how the school acted. I became a target; people started off avoiding me, ignoring me if I talked to them... but it got worse. They started stealing my stuff... dumping water on my head... it was horrible."
"..."
"I was able to convince my parents to let me move, but I'm still scared. I want to talk about them with you, about how amazing they are, about how much I like them, but I just... can't."
"It's okay." Ai pulled her into a hug. Aika had tears streaming down her face. "Take your time, work through your fear. I can wait for you to be ready to tell me. But no matter what, I will never hurt you like that, okay?"
Aika cried into her shoulder as she let out a muffled "Mhm."
After crying for a few minutes, Aika broke away, leaning on the railing and going back to looking out over the city. Ai followed suit, and they stood in silence for a few minutes.
"You don't have to tell me who it is, but... why don't you tell me what he's like?"
"...A little difficult to approach, tending to mind their own business, but is still kind and willing to help out when you ask for it..."
"He sounds amazing."
Ai couldn't see Aika's face, as she had turned her head to avoid eye contact.
"Yeah, really amazing."
"I hope one day you trust me enough to tell me who it is."
Aika spun around, her eyes puffy from crying, and she quickly shouted out, "I do trust you!"
"Then tell me, I won't tell anyone, okay?"
"Y-You won't think I'm weird? ...No matter who it is?"
"Of course not, you can trust me."
Looking downward and breaking eye contact, Aika mumbled something. But it was too quiet for Ai to catch.
"hmm?"
"...Tobiichi Origami." She whispered, just loud enough for Ai to catch.
Ai froze. Was she hearing that right? Tobiichi-san? They were talking about who she had a crush on, and she had just given a girl's name. She wasn't even sure how to act, and just froze in shock.
Aika glanced up, and seeing her friends face, fear set in. "NO NO NO! I SCREWED UP! I SHOULDN'T HAVE TOLD HER!"
Aika quickly ran away, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible, terrified at what was going to happen tomorrow. "Damn it, it's going to be just like last year. Why can't I just be normal?"
Ai watched her friend run; she wanted to reach out to her, to tell her it was okay, but she couldn't. She was confused. "To like another girl... No. That doesn't matter, she's still Aika, and she's scared and alone right now. I need to find her, to tell her it's okay, to tell her she isn't weird." But she was frozen in place. Even though she wanted to say those things, did she really believe them?
She was broken out of her thoughts by the blare of an alarm—the space quake alarm. Immediately, she started running towards the nearest shelter, but suddenly stopped, her mind going back to that face Aika made as she bolted. Would she even be in a state to notice the alarm? She quickly called her, hoping she would pick up, but it just went to voice mail. "This is bad, she's not going to notice what's happening..." She quickly made her decision and ran in the direction she had seen Aika run off.