The views of the characters are not necessarily my own. The fights will start next chapter.

I always thought of Pharos/Ryoji/Death as being more of the personification of what humans think of death, as opposed to an actual incarnation of death like a Fiend.

I went back and edited the first and second chapter.

Day 2 (Tuesday)

As promised, Hiroko left Aleph's allowance on the kitchen table that morning, next to a note praising the use of ginger and garlic with the beef. Aleph boiled himself an egg and packed his lunch with leftovers, before heading off to school.

It was a cold, rainy day in Haruhata, so Aleph brought his umbrella. He walked to school at a steady pace, when he heard someone shout his name.

"Aleph!"

Kazuya came jogging up behind him, eschewing an umbrella in favor of a dark green raincoat. "Morning," he said through a yawn.

"Good morning," Aleph greeted his friend. "Did you sleep?"

"Yeah, I did," said Kazuya, dark circles under his eyes.

"Did Asahi's story keep you up?"

Kazuya nodded carelessly. "I was researching it," he said.

"Didn't you have homework?"

"That's why I was up all night," said Kazuya irritably. "We had to do systems of equations."

"We had to evaluate limits for polynomial division," said Aleph.

"Just L'Hopital those," said Kazuya dismissively. "Anyways, I was doing some cross-referencing on the local disappearances. I couldn't find anything about sudden bursts of insanity or people vanishing into thin air, but I did find a missing persons list in the newspaper."

"Asahi was right?"

"You're the one who said you believed her," said Kazuya.

"That's different," said Aleph. "She wasn't lying. That doesn't mean that what she said is true."

Kazuya stopped walking and stared at Aleph with new interest. "You can read liar's tells?"

Aleph shrugged. "People sound different when they lie. It's hard to describe how."

"…Do they sound higher pitched, or more shaky, or-"

"Have you ever watched a soap opera, and something about the picture looks incredibly fake, but you can't describe how?" said Aleph.

"I see," said Kazuya, and then added, "That's called Motion Interpolation. They add extra frames between animations, and it looks unnatural because it's too fluid. I did that for my—Wait." He stopped walking and shuddered.

Aleph stopped with him. "…Is something wrong?"

Kazuya paused for an unnaturally long time before saying, "It's nothing, Ale… never mind, you already know I'm lying. You always knew, didn't you?"

"You lied about why you came to this school," said Aleph levelly.

Kazuya's face reddened. "It's… that's not important right now," he said quickly. "It has nothing to do with an-"

A block away, the first bell rang.

Kazuya turned around and pointed at Aleph. "She was right about the students going missing," he said. "But there were a few other people she missed. Also, someone with her last name was on that list. Meet me at lunch and I'll tell you the rest. Bring Tae. Bye."

Kazuya sprinted off without a word.

Aleph shuddered. A deep, oppressive noise faded from his ears, its presence only known by the void it left behind. "What was that?"

X

Now that Aleph knew what to look for, he could see the atmosphere of dreary fear draped over the school. Still, it was reassuring to know what was going on. No matter what was happening, nothing was worse than looking at a void full of possibility. Aleph could imagine plenty of worse things, like… the government cutting off the air supply, or… um… teachers joining evil cults of doom.

Aleph had misjudged the amount of time it took to walk to school while talking to someone, so he was the last person to arrive, just barely making it before the bell. He took his seat in front of Asahi.

"Good morning, Asahi," said Aleph, turning around to face her.

"Good morning, Aleph!" Asahi replied. "Are you all right? You look worried."

"Kazuya said he wanted to tell us something," said Aleph. "I think it's about the disappearances."

"Not so loud!" whispered Asahi.

"No one is listening," said Aleph. He gestured to the other students, who were all in their own groups. The ones who weren't talking were preoccupied with books or drawings.

"I am sitting right in front of you," said Mr. Gale, without looking up from annotating Urban Warfare for Dummies. "I can hear every word you say."

"Thank you, Mr. Gale," said Aleph. He leaned in to whisper. "He looked worried. He told me to bring someone named… Tae? Is there anyone in the school with that name?"

Asahi shook her head. "Maybe she's a first year or a transfer student?"

"If you whisper like that, then it is obvious that you are up to something," said Mr. Gale, adding another sticky note to the page. "Keep your voices low and pay attention to your body language."

"Thank you, Mr. Gale," said Aleph. He sat back in his chair. "But why wouldn't he say who she is or where to find her?"

"Beats me," said Asahi. She glanced back at the clock. "Homeroom's almost over. How about I go look at the directory at lunch, and you go wait for Kazuya? I'll come back with Tae as soon as I can."

"Sounds good," said Aleph.

X

Kazuya's words worried him, but Aleph still managed to focus on class. It was boring, but bearable.

Aleph and Asahi split up at lunch as promised. Aleph headed for the tree where he had met Kazuya, but the first year was nowhere in sight.

Since Kazuya didn't specify a meeting spot, Aleph decided to look for him. But he wasn't in the freshman classrooms, on the roof, at the bakery, or even in the computer lab. Aleph stopped at the tree, hoping that he was late.

About ten minutes later, Asahi showed up. "There's no one named Tae in the entire school," she said. "Where's Kazuya?"

"I couldn't find him," said Aleph. "Couldn't he have brought her here instead of asking us?"

"Now you tell me," moaned Asahi.

The two students sat down and started eating their lunch. Aleph chewed his broccoli, while Asahi attacked her yakitori with relish.

"How's your lunch?" Aleph asked.

"Good," said Asahi. "Leftovers as usual."

"I'm eating leftovers, too," said Aleph.

There was more silence.

Asahi put down her lunchbox. "I can't even think about food right now," she said. "Something must have happened to Kazuya."

Aleph stared. "Why do you say that?"

"It's too suspicious," said Asahi. "Have you ever read a book where someone solves the mystery ten chapters in, but something always happens to them before they can tell anyone? Like how Hermione was petrified after she found that a basilisk was using the pipes in Harry Potter, or how Hughes was killed in Fullmetal Alchemist after he-"

"Wait," said Aleph. "I haven't finished that one."

"You get the idea," said Asahi. "Kazuya found something, but someone must have wanted him gone!"

"Maybe one of the teachers had to talk to him?" suggested Aleph. "Or he's stuck in the bathroom?"

"Or… the yakuza came to silence him," said Asahi quickly. "Or he vanished like the others. Or he…"

"I don't think the yakuza would try to kidnap someone in the middle of the school day," said Aleph. "And you said that everyone who disappeared went insane. He looked fine to me this morning."

Asahi, however, was not to be deterred. She glared at Aleph. "We can't just sit here, we need to find out what happened to him!" she said, grabbing Aleph's hand. "Come on, let's go ask his classmates."

Asahi marched up to the first first-year student she found, a girl with short hair designing a computer model of an elaborate building that looked like a cross between a temple and a fortress. "Hi, you're a first year. Do you know Kazuya? Brown hair, about this tall?"

The girl turned around. "A first year named Kazuya?" she said. "I don't know anyone with that name. Sorry."

Aleph and Asahi kept asking around, but no one else said that they knew Kazuya.

"How is this possible?" said Asahi after the tenth first year.

"It is only his second day in this school, and he's not from around here," said Aleph. "Not everyone in his class will know his name. And there is only a one in… four or five chance that they even share the same classroom."

"Good point," said Asahi. Then she brightened up. "Hey, why don't we ask the teachers? They have to know his name."

But then the bell rang before they could ask anyone, and they had to go to class.

X

"You're looking for a first year named Kazuya?" asked Mr. Lupa after their last class of the day—gym—ended.

"Yes," said Aleph.

"Which one?"

"The one that's this tall and has brown hair," said Asahi.

Lupa looked off into the distanced. "…No, I don't think I remember," he said. "What's his last name?"

"It's…" Asahi began. "It's…Kazuya… Kazuya… what was his last name again, Aleph?"

Aleph shook his head. "I don't remember."

"That's strange," said Asahi. "I mean, I know your last name's Mekata. You know my last name too, right?"

"Toriyama," said Aleph.

Mr. Lupa cleared his throat. "I suggest you look at the student directory."

"Again?" groaned Asahi.

"Let's try someone else," suggested Aleph.

After about half an hour of asking the teachers, they finally found Kazuya's last name and his address. When Asahi saw it, she blanched. "I… er… can't got there," she said.

"Why not?" asked Aleph.

"I… kind of… remember how I said it's a Yakuza hideout?"

"Yes."

"Long story short, I… kindofbrokeinandnowI'mbannedforlife."

Aleph blinked. "What?"

"Never mind, just go without me!" said Asahi. "Tell me tomorrow!"

"But what if you vanish, too?" said Aleph.

Asahi blinked. "Good point. Meet me at the ice cream shop."

X

If Kazuya's apartment building was a Yakuza hideout, it didn't show it. It was a lot nicer than Hiroko's place; the lobby was tasteful marble and glass chandeliers, and there were potted plants in every hall. The elevator had the old-fashioned grate over it, and the hall window on Kazuya's floor had a lovely view of the river.

Aleph knocked on the door to room 523, and a middle aged woman opened it.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hello, ma'am," said Aleph. "I'm Kazuya's friend from school."

"Oh, you're Aleph?" said Kazuya's mother. "Kazuya told me all about you. Come in."

Kazuya's mother put on the kettle and asked Aleph what kind of tea he liked; he said he'd have whatever she was having. "I'm so happy Kazuya is making friends," she said. "He never had many friends back in Tokyo. He's a very good boy, you know, and I hope he isn't troubling you too much."

"Is he here right now?" asked Aleph.

Kazuya's mother shook her head. "He's probably off exploring. How is he?"

Aleph swallowed. Compared to the dreary rain of school, Kazuya's mother radiated joy. When she spoke of her son, she shone like a crackling fire in a snowfield.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't break her happiness. She'd know soon enough, when her son wouldn't come home, and he face would be awash with tears,

There was a yap from the side. A husky bounded towards Aleph, and started jumping on him.

"No, Pascal, down," said Kazuya's mother, gently pulling the dog back. "He likes you."

"Kazuya is fine," Aleph lied, heart racing. He could hear the tone of the lie in his voice.

"I'm happy to hear that," said Kazuya's mother. "I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"It's fine," said Aleph with a dry voice. "Thank you for the tea."

X

"He wasn't there," said Aleph.

Asahi's hands shook. "I… you… We need to…"

"Do something?" said Aleph. "What can we do?"

"Anything!" snapped Asahi. "Look around, ask people, do something! We can't just—"

"What can we do?" repeated Aleph. "Running around in a random direct—"

"We have to try!" Asahi stood up. "Come on, Aleph, we—"

"You're a shark," said Aleph.

Asahi blinked, as if trying to figure out whether that was a compliment or not.

"Sharks die if they stop swimming," said Aleph. "You need to try, but you don't know what you can do, so you do everything."

"And what's wrong with that?" said Asahi icily.

"You're running blind," said Aleph. "You don't know any better than your classmates, but you run so much that you pretend you're not as helpless as they are."

Asahi's fists shook. "What do you know?" she growled.

"This isn't about Kazuya," said Aleph. "Someone with your last name went missing. Who?"

Asahi punched him in the nose. "I thought you were different," she muttered, tears streaming down her face. "You're all the same!" She walked off.

X

Aleph woke in the sunless desert.

"Not tonight," said Aleph, turning his back. "I can't deal with you."

The figure grabbed him from behind. "NO!" he wailed. "Don't leave me!"

"I told you, I—"

The figure let go. "Help him!"

"How?!" yelled Aleph.

The desert was silent.

"Where can we look?" said Aleph. "Where did he go? Who saw him go? What can we do?"

The figure laid his hand on Aleph's shoulder. "I know what we can do."

TO BE CONTINUED!