A few hours or so went by in class—but to Emi Hoshino—it felt like an eternity as she sat behind Yumi, knowing it wasn't her best friend.
In Hoshikawa School, students stayed in the same homeroom classroom with the same classmates for the entire day. Instead of students switching rooms for each subject, the teachers move from room to room, and the students only leave for special subjects.
And that was exactly what was happening now.
"Alright everyone!" Mrs. Tanaka said, clapping her hands together. "Please change into your PE uniforms and line up in the hallway. We'll be heading to the gym."
The room immediately burst into excitement as students scraped their chairs back to stand up.
Everyone grabbed their bags as someone complained loudly about forgetting their gym shoes.
Yumi stretched out her arms, standing up with her usual lazy grin.
"Yes! PE!" She said. "Finally, something that doesn't require thinking. Am I right, Emi? Teehee!"
Emi flinched the moment she looked at her.
That was exactly something Yumi would say.
Her hands felt numb as she slowly stood up too, grabbing her bag from beneath her desk.
Her legs started to move on instinct alone as Lumi hovered close to her shoulder.
"...This is bad." He whispered.
"Because of the Shoggoth?" Emi asked silently.
"Because of the shadows!" Lumi replied. "Gyms have high ceilings. Wide open floors, and too much space. It can cause a lot of trouble!"
Emi widened her eyes before swallowing evidently hard. Students then proceeded to file out into the hallway, forming uneven lines while teachers supervised them.
Lockers clanged open and shut as kids rushed to change while Emi walked into the girls' locker room with the others, keeping her head down.
She changed quickly, feeling her hands shaking as she tugged on her PE shirt.
Across the room, Yumi laughed with another girl while tying her hair up as Emi avoided her, looking at the floor.
"...Emi." Lumi whispered urgently. "We have to be careful moving forward."
"I-I know, I'll be on the lookout for those shadows." Emi said under her breath.
"No, not just them. Watch out for Yumi too! Shoggoth doesn't like wide spaces unless it's hunting!"
Emi felt her chest tightening as students began filing out again, heading toward the gym.
When they walked inside, the space was massive; it had high ceilings, polished wooden floors, and basketball hoops overhead.
Sunlight came through tall windows, casting long shadows across the court.
In fact, there were too many shadows.
"Oh jeez, I didn't expect it to be this big..." Muttered the Star Spirit, gritting his teeth in slight frustration.
She held her hands near her chest as students poured in behind her, their laughter filled the massive space.
The PE teacher was waiting inside and blew a whistle as the loud sound echoed through their chattering.
"Alright, everyone! Line up along the wall!"
Students laughed and scrambled into place, bumping shoulders and joking as they formed uneven rows. Emi found herself standing near the middle, trying not to look down at the shadowy floor
Lumi hovered slightly higher now as he observed around the gym.
"...There!" He muttered. "Do you feel that?"
Emi looked up and nodded ever so slightly.
Something was moving along the floor, in a two-dimensional plane—along with many others.
Near the far end of the gym, where the sunlight didn't reach, the shadows morphed unnaturally along the walls as they clung to the corners, shifting in random angles as if breathing.
No one else seemed to notice except Emi since she was the only one with Magical powers.
Yumi jogged right over, stopping right beside Emi with her usual bright smile.
"I bet the activity today is dodgeball. How much you wanna bet?"
Emi forced a small laugh.
"W-Well, there's no reason to bet if I'm thinking the same."
Yumi giggled at Emi as they turned their attention toward the PE teacher.
The PE teacher clapped his hands together, whistle dangling from his neck.
"Alright! Today we're playing dodgeball!"
A loud cheer erupted across the gym as all students cheered in unison.
"Yes!"
"Called it!"
"Please don't put me with the bad throwers again!"
Yumi pumped her fist.
"Knew it! Pay up! Oh wait... we didn't bet." She laughed and nudged Emi lightly with her elbow.
Emi stiffened at the contact, straightening out her body.
It was brief, but extremely uncomfortable.
"...Careful!" Lumi whispered from up above. "Physical contact is dangerous! If it so much as even touches you, it can absorb you on contact! It's dangerous."
Emi widened her eyes at his words, taking a half-step away without making it obvious.
The PE teacher continued, already rolling out a large cart filled with bright red dodgeballs.
"Two teams!" He called out. "I'll split you up. When I call your name, head to your side of the court."
A line was drawn down the middle of the gym with tape as students shuffled around excitedly as names were called.
"Hiro. Blue team!
Aiko. Red team!
Yumi. Blue team!"
Yumi grinned and waved.
"Guess I'm blue this time around!"
She glanced back at Emi, expectant.
"Emi!" The teacher called, checking his clipboard, "Red team!"
Emi blinked multiple times, feeling a sense of relief wash over her.
"Oh."
Yumi's smile faltered—just for a fraction of a second before she brightened up again.
"Aw man. Guess we're enemies now!"
She laughed like it was nothing and jogged off toward the blue side.
But Emi saw it—she was furious.
This couldn't get any better.