Yūka's POV

"Hey what's wrong? You've been staring at that wall for a whole good minute now." The voice of my classmate, Yūno, made me snap my head towards her direction. She's looking at me with a blank look, her finger pointing at my hand which held the Gudetama crackers.

"Are you going to eat that? Or no?" she asked. I rolled my eyes playfully and tossed her the crackers which she happily caught.

"That's all yours. I'm not in the mood today," I said, watching her tear open the snack. It only took me a second to avert my gaze, my eyes fixated on the wall once again. I just can't help but think about the guy last night. I've been questioning myself since then. Why are we laying on the floor?  Why are there sharp things near us? What was the guy's motive? Did he break into our house to steal or to kill? If his motive is to kill, then why bring us downstairs? Why didn't we wake up when the window broke? Why does his height looked shorter than an average man? Is he a teenager?

"This will be the eight time I'll be asking you the same question. What. Is. Wrong. With. You." Yūno's voice made me jump on my seat, and as I look at her eyes I can see that she's worried. The tone of her voice makes me think that she's also getting irritated. And the fact that when she asked me with her tone sounding straight and without intonation just proves it.

"Just had a nightmare last night," I finally answered. The look on her face made me squirm on my seat as I feel the sweat rolling down my forehead. "Yeah. Sure...." she replied with uncertainty. After a while, she pried her gaze off of me and instead focused on the notebook on her desk. Seeing this as a chance, I quietly stood up and slipped away from the scene, almost running when I got out of the classroom. Gee, Yūno's eyes earlier remind me of a lie detector's in movies.

Shaking my head to clear my mind, I made my way to the rooftop. I avoided the people I knew here and there, afraid that they might also notice my rather weird behavior. I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding when I turned to a hallway with no one in it. A few meters from where I stood, I could see the staircase and I happily ran up to it. Without even thinking after I reached the last flight of stairs, I bolted through the door, not seeing the person standing alone at the center.

For a moment, I thought the person didn't notice me so I went back a few steps. But oh well, the person did hear me. She turned around with tears on her eyes, her orange hair waving because of the wind. I was stunned when I saw her, and she, on the other hand, looked indifferent. The girl looked away and wiped the tears. Judging by her overall appearance, it wouldn't be shocking if someone thought of her as an eight grader. She looked about as the same height as me, but since her face is new to me, she must be a grade or two higher than me.

"I-I'm sorry for interrupting you. I'll just go back and um..." I trailed off when the girl returned her gaze at me. I thought she's ignoring me. Well, I won't be stupefied if that's the case. Older people tend to hate someone younger than them.

"No, it's fine. You didn't interrupt anything," she said in a monotone voice. We stood there for a whole good minute before she broke the silence.

"What made you come here?"

I was rather surprised by her question. At first thought, I wondered if she's implying that I shouldn't come to the rooftop or something like that. Then I realized I was being foolish. "The rooftop is like my best place when I want to think." I took a step towards her, smiling.

"I.. see.." Her golden orbs looked lifeless even though she gave me a small smile. I really think that I should've checked first if there was someone here. That way, this conversation would be less awkward.

In order to avoid saying something I'll regret, I took a glance at my watch and was surprised to see the time. I didn't know that the whole rooftop thing took so long.

"Umm..." I looked at the girl, debating internally whether should I ask her for her name or not... It seemed she got the message because she sighed before giving me a smile.

"Mitsuko. Tachibana Mitsuko," she introduced, and the sight of her eyes looking a bit brighter than before made my mood lighthearted.

"Haruna Yūka. Nice to meet you, Tachibana-san!!"

***

"That's it! I had enough of this!  Screw physical education!!!!" Yūno groaned as she laid on the ground,  catching her breath. She looked like she ran for a few kilometers, despite only doing a few push-ups.
"Come on, it's not that bad. You did well in spite of not being used to physical activities," I reassured her as I sat beside her. Everyone's currently on break, and I could tell that most of us were pretty tired. Well, not like Yūno whose grimace gives you the impression that heaven just fell down on her.

"Oh shush. My parents should be happy that I'm doing this for my grades. If it weren't for those numerical cheese that are supposed to "tell" me my future, I wouldn't be wasting my energy for this," she grunted, doing the air quotation marks even on the ground. I couldn't come up with an answer because I'm sure that I'll be giggling instead of actually talking.

I let Yūno take her rest as I snatched my sketchpad from the backpack I brought. I twirled the pencil in my hands as I scanned the field, looking for inspiration. "Trees, people, buildings, sky.. Hmm, what else??"

I've been drawing mostly people and sceneries so maybe, architectures then. The tip of my pen was just about to touch the paper when someone shook me. The pencil slipped out of my grasp and I turned around, shooting a confused look at Yūno who's shaking her head with a frightened look.

"What?" I whisphered to her, slightly irritated. She kept her mouth pressed together and her head shaking, as her finger pointed to my side. Just as I raised my eyebrow, darkness cast over me.

"Haruna Yūka, for the nth time, stand up and hurry to the starting line." Came a voice from behind me. The sterness sent shivers down my spine, and I don't even have a second to process the whole thing when my body moved on its own, pushing me up from the ground and running to the starting line of the track.

From where I'm standing, I could see Iida-sensei's austere look, his cold indigo irises seeing through my calm dissimulation. Yeap, this is one of those times I wished I listened. I forgot that in terms of class numbers, I'm in 3rd.

"In 5..!!"

Wha?! Sensei's already starting the countdown?! I don't even have a tiniest bit of clue on what I'm supposed to do here!! My legs shook and I shot a distressed look towards Yūno. Thankfully, she got the message and started doing charades in a fast pace. She repeated this a lot of times as the countdown went near to 1. Loops, the number 2, then a small circle, and lastly, the number 5.

"1....!!"

I sprinted as fast as I can, in hopes that I could beat my previous record. Last time, I finished 3 loops in around 4 minutes. This time, it doesn't have to be 3, but I still want to do 2 laps in under 4 minutes.

Because I was too focused about beating my previous record, I barely noticed that my balance went off because of the speed. I tried slowing down and happened to look at my feet to see how fast I was going, and perceived the laces of my shoes getting undone.

"Oh cr—" My face slammed into the ground before I even finished my sentence. The pain got me half-laughing and half-crying. I experienced falling before but this took the cake. I pushed myself up and rubbed my nose that is rivalling Rudolph's, my eyes still closed.

The reason why I don't want to open my eyes is because I don't want to see my classmates's faces. Their eyes that are focused on me, anticipating my every move. Not to mention the sound that my ear would pick up besides the natural sounds in the environment. I only expected to hear laughter and probably insults but what reached my ears are way different.

"KKKYYAAHHHHH!!!"

I wasn't able to comprehend what was going on. The scene unfolding before my eyes just seems.. surreal. We are no longer in the school grounds, but somewhere, confusing. The environment is changing rapidly, it almost made me think that everything was an illusion. One more thing is the doubt forming within me. The surface beneath seems to be moving. But all of us aren't. Some are either running for their lives, or just standing or sitting still. Is it because they're too focused on the creatures?

Dolls that look like mermaids kept throwing spears at us. Iida-sensei called for his students and tried to come up with a plan to deal with the dolls, but his endeavors have gone unrewarded. As I stood a few meters from them, I just noticed that my eyes are fixated on one of my classmates that is desparately trying to protect himself with his bare hands. Unlike the others who are in a group, he's by himself and it looks like Iida-sensei hasn't noticed him yet. The doll that is targeting him got closer and he backed away, tripping.

What are you doing? Get up and run!!
 
The guy remained frozen as the doll raised its weapon, about to stab my helpless classmate.

Somebody!! Anyone! Help him!

One yard...

Please!! Anything!

One foot...

Anybody! Save him!

Half a foot...

Please...!!

.

.

.

.

.

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!"

I have no idea how, when, and why my body moved on its own. I only know that what I just did is reckless and that I just can't let the end happen.

The doll who's stopped for a moment turned its head towards me. It lowered its weapon and stayed still, which gave my classmate time to recover from the shock. "Hurry! Get up and run!!" I shouted as I snatched my backpack when I got close to it. My classmate nodded at me and regrouped with the others, leaving me alone to deal with the creature.
Okay Yūka, you got this. I did a quick scan of my surroundings. The dolls are multiplying and had completely surrounded the others. Iida-sensei is on the lead, using his clipboard to smack the dolls. The others are doing well, with the physical fit people protecting the others. In my side however, I dodged an incoming attack from the doll in the last second, the blade of its spear barely grazing my cheek. Oddly, there are no other dolls coming at me. Why?

"Crap!!" I exclaimed when the doll lunged at me in incredible speed, twirling the spear and dealing a wound on my arm. I felt the warm blood rolling but I paid no heed to it. Right now, I have to maintain focus. Think Yūka, think! What can you do with the doll? What can you use? I glanced at the bag I'm holding. I don't have much with me. Just a pencil case, sketchpad and a water jug. Nothing else. What can I do with these three items, along with the bag???

"Ugh!" I groaned, falling on my back. The damned doll used the handle of the spear and sent me crashing to the ground. I cursed inwardly as my vision blurred, my head feeling like it's twisted. My back is also screaming in pain. "Dang it..." I muttered, barely recognizing my environment. Things look like watercolor, just colors blending in together. But no definite image.

Even though I can't tell what is what, I got up on my feet and ran in the opposite direction of the moving blue and black colors. If my memory is correct, the dolls are blue while the handle of the spear is black. After a while of running, my vision started reverting back to normal, although not completely. It's just enough for me to distinguish things. The doll looked pretty pissed because I kept running around.

Come on, Yūka!! What's inside the pencil case?! Something that's sturdy enough to be a weapon! If I remember correctly, it contains a sharpener, an eraser, few pencils and ballpens, a highlighter and... Scissors!!! Perfect!

I dodged an attack once again at the last second. Feeling the adrenaline getting high, I rushed toward a huge anchor that's stuck on the ground, opening my backpack's zipper while doing so. As expected, the doll came after me, and I quickly but carefully made my way to the top. I secretly took my water bottle and opened the cap.

"Is that all? Do you call that your best?!" I might look like an idiot trying to provoke a DOLL that's similar to a program. It just follows the instructions. Heck, I don't know if it can even understand me.
To my surprise, I caught a glimpse of the doll's grip on the spear tightening. It actually worked?!, I thought in disbelief.

The doll charged and I smiled. With a war cry, I jumped as high as I can, the water bottle on one hand and the bag on the other. With all my strength, I threw the water bottle at the doll, who tried to slice it but ended up getting splashed with water. Obviously, it didn't do much as it tried to stab me with the spear. I foresaw the attack and grabbed my sketchbook, using it to divert the spear after stepping aside. The sketchbook slipped out of my grasp and I bit my bottom lip hard enough that I thought it was going to bleed.

I assumed the doll was surprised (its face didn't show any emotion) as it slowed its reaction time. The doll's arm is still extended which made things easier. I grabbed the handle of the spear which let go of the sketchbook, and the other hand covered the doll's face with the bag. As the doll struggled, I quickly took the scissors from the pocket of my skirt (I took the whole pencil case ahead of time, with the scissors being separated with the other materials) and stabbed the doll with all the strength I could muster, making both of us fall into the ground. The doll's grip on the spear weakened but not enough that I could simply take it like a candy from a child. I stabbed the doll a few more times until it can barely move. It let go of the spear conpletely and I seized it, dealing the final blow.

Unexpectedly, the doll bursted into million pieces, floating and then fading. I stared at the flying particles in awe. "I did it...."

"Oh dang, I'm late aren't I? You've already taken care of one of the obstacles..."

Surprised by the new but familiar voice, I snapped my head towards the direction of the sound. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I said with a shaky voice, "Tachibana-san.. "

=====
Tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I said with a hopeful tone, "Yeap, press that star shaped button for me."

Okay, enough of that. First of all, I'M SORRY (multiplied to infinity) for not updating for MONTHS! School's been pretty stressful lately, and surprise surprise!! I won't be able to update often now. :( Seems like school will be messing up my schedule (my already MESSED UP schedule) so *sniff* I'll be apologizing in advance. Hope you understand though. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you like this one! 😘