The school was large and packed with students. Each classroom had done their own unique stand or activity.
When the group of four entered the school, they were amazed at the wide variety of stands that greeted them on either side of the path outside of the outside of the school. Colorful signs advertised just about anything under the sun, from plays to food stands. A banner near the entrance welcomed guests from other schools.
"Wow! This is incredible!" Ayano exclaimed, her eyes bright with excitement and delight. "Isn't this cool Shintarou?" She smiled and snatched his arm, endearingly wrapping her arms around his and resting her head on his shoulder. "Where do you want to go first?" she asked him, grinning.
He shrugged and pulled out his phone. "Seems rather boring to me." he said, looking around with a bored expression.
"Don't say that!" Ayano said, playfully punching his arm. "What about you two, anywhere in particular you guys want to go?"
Sparing Tsubomi the responsibility of answering, Shuuya said, "I'm starving. Let's go look at the food stands!" He appeared to be grinning, though he was worriedly watching Tsubomi.
"But you ate breakfast an hour ago!"Ayano protested.
"So what? I want to buy some food. I'll meet up with you and the grouch later!" Kano waved and took Kido's wrist, leading her away from Ayano and Shintarou.
"Fine, but don't have too much fun without us!" Ayano yelled after them. Kano raised his arm in the air to signify having heard her. He glanced at Kido who had pulled her hood over her head and was watching the crowds.
She hated, loathed, being in crowded places and yet she was stuck here, dragged into another one of Ayano's crazy ideas. She nervously glanced around at the mass of people swarming the stands, wishing she could disappear. Her power was unreliable in places with a high concentration of people. If anyone bumped into her, like they were doing nearly every second, her ability was negated.
Kano wanted to pull her close, to wrap his arm around her shaking shoulders and tell her everything would be fine because he was there for her, but he couldn't. They didn't have that kind of relationship, not yet anyways.
He walked ahead of her towards an area relatively free of students. The area lead into a short alleyway that revealed an empty clearing. There were no stands lining the clean pathway. A few students wandered in behind Kano and Kido but they left as soon as they saw there was nothing to do.
For the pairing however, this area was perfect. Kido finally relaxed, leaning against a wall and looking at the bright blue sky. Kano walked over to her, grinning. "Anywhere in particular you want to go?" he asked, tilting his head to the right.
"Home." Kido said. Her hands were shaking in her pockets. She couldn't stand being in crowded locations. She wanted to disappear, to hide in a corner of her room. She always did so when she was scared.
"Come on, I'm sure there's something you want to do. What about that shooting game Ayano mentioned?" Shuuya asked, leaning his right shoulder against the wall. Seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer, he added, "I'll text Ayano." and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
A few minutes later the duo was greeted by a shy boy dressed in a school uniform, standing outside the door with the number Ayano had indicated. Kido had disappeared as soon as they entered the empty hallway. The boy in front of the sliding door had short dark hair a a small mole underneath his left eye. He fidgeted frequently, constantly knotting and unknotting his hands and looking down the hallway in both directions.
He smiled at Kano and opened the door to the darkened room, talking to the girl at the other end. "Are you ready now, Takane?" His voice was soft and rather high. "It looks like he wants to try, so I'll leave it to you to make it another heated match!"
Kano nonchalantly walked into the room, followed closely by Kido who remained invisible. "Onee-san," he said, "Are you going to be my opponent?" Without waiting for an answer, he said, "I look forward to playing against you." and smiled.
Nervously, the girl with long black hair standing in front of the lit computers said, twiddling her thumbs as she spoke, "Uh... Yes... I look forward to playing with you too." She glanced at the shy boy near the door as she added, "I'll be explaining the rules so please come on in!"' Kano headed towards the computer, appearing to curiously gaze around the around the room though he was actually gazing at a nervous girl walking next to him."I'll do my best!" he heard the student behind him say to the boy at the door.
She walked over to Kano, startling Kido by being so close. "Umm," she started nervously. "I will now explain the rules!" Her voice shook as she began rambling. "In a moment, you'll be challenging me in the game that's there in the center. The one that earns the most points by taking down more enemies is the winner!" Kido moved away from her, walking around Kano to stand on his other side. "Simple, right?"The girl smiled, the corners of her lips shaking slightly.
"Ohh~" Kano said, his face lighting up. "Seems like fun! Even though they don't seem to be here... So, do you want to try Kido?
"Doesn't it? The girl said. "Hm?" She cocked her head to one side. "Kido? Who EEEK!" She suddenly noticed Kido, who had finally made herself visible. Her bangs were covering her eyes, making her face look darker than usual. She looked rather intimidating., especially with her rather apathetic expression. "Yeah..." Kido said, looking behind Takane, who was frozen where she stood, her eyes wide are two full moons.
"Ah, wh-wh-what?" She said, staring at Kido.
"Onee-san, are you okay?" Kano asking, glancing from Takane to Kido and back again. "Ah, if it's her you're wondering about, she's been here this whole time." He smiled. "She ind of has a weak presence so people often don't notice her-OUCH!" His sentence ended with a punch to the stomach from Kido.
Takane stills seemed nervous so Kido asked, "Could we hurry up and start already?"
"Y-Yes of course!" Takane said, plastering a smile on her face. "Please make your way to the back." She motion towards the seats a few feet behind her. She waited until Kido had sat down before taking the seat next to her. "U-um, we can set the game's difficulty, so which would you like?" she asked.
Kido looked at her. "Normal." she said, keeping her expression as blank as possible.
"Ah, okay! Of course!" Takane said, her voice shaking slightly. "My apologies! Now then-let's start!" she stuttered, half coughing on the last word. With an embarrassed expression on her face, she set the difficulty and hit start.
The two girls played head to head, Kido fell behind quickly, unable to keep up with Takane's quick aiming. The monsters came closer and closer to her, surprising her as they took up her entire screen before she could eliminate them.
Thirty seconds left to go. Surprisingly enough, she wasn't too far behind. She could win, if only she could stop Takane...
Her eyes turned red, glowing ever so slightly. On the screen, the creatures in front of Takane disappeared without being hit. Kido could still see them, immune to the invisibility brought on by her powers, so she shot at them, taking her time to aim and hit every single one while Takane watched her, shocked.
With fifteen seconds left, Takane started shooting randomly, hoping to hit a few of them before the timer ran out.
"Buzz!" the timer disappeared and so did the enemies. The screen changed, displaying the scores. Takane stared, shocked. She had won, but only by one hundred points.
"Hahaha! Looks like you lost, Kido." Kano said. Both girls had completely forgotten he was behind them. "But it'd be wrong if you won by cheating, right? You should apologize to onee-san." His voice was full of disappointment.
"Eh...?" Takane looked at Kido, who refused to meet her gaze.
"... I'm sorry." Kido said, small tears appearing at the corner of her eyes. She stood, turning away from Takane towards the door.
"Wait, cheating?" Takane asked, turning around to face Kido's back. "But that was an error with the game, so it wasn't her fault at all." Takane said, defending her.
"Sorry, onee-san." Kano said, his voice a little said. "You may not believe me, but earlier that girl used a psychic ability." He followed Kido towards the door. "You'll know if you check, but the game's not broken. It's fine. It should work without any problems next time, so don't worry." He waved goodbye before leaving.
"Ah... Just... what was that?" Kano heard Takane mumble to herself.
The boy outside the door gave them a strange look as they walked past. "UWAH!" he yelled, surprised when he saw Kido, causing Kido to blush. He disappeared into the room as Kano and Kido hid around the corner.
Kido disappeared again, staying by Kano's side but hiding her presence completely. People walked past them oblivious.
Kano was about to scold Kido about her cheating when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out, surprised to see a text from Ayano.
'Meet me in front of classroom 3-B. It'll scare your socks off!'
Kano's wide eyes went over the words again and again, reading them in disbelief. The moment he dreaded was here. The haunted house.
Ayano wanted them to go to a haunted house.