The library had never felt this quiet.
Even with its usual hum of pages turning and distant whispers, something about today was different. Still. Heavy. Like the building was holding its breath. Yui sat at the corner table with Ayumi, an open textbook in front of them that neither was reading.
Ayumi was lightly drumming her fingers against the cover, and Yui just stared at the same sentence, eyes unfocused.Across from them, Haruka flipped methodically through a pile of reference books, her expression tight. Haru was slumped in his chair, twirling a pen between his fingers and barely hiding his growing boredom.
It was supposed to be a study session.But none of them were really thinking about math. "I've had the same sentence in my brain for ten minutes," Ayumi muttered.
"Cool, I've memorized exactly zero of this," Haru added.
Yui leaned back, her voice soft. "I keep thinking about the hospital. That spirit pretending to be Haruka…" Haruka looked up. "Yeah. That still doesn't make sense. Spirits aren't supposed to be able to copy voices like that."
"They also aren't supposed to text," Ayumi mumbled, staring at her phone. "And yet here we are."
Haru sighed. "So… are we just waiting for another weird thing to show up, or are we actually gonna do something about this?"
Haruka shut her book. "I've been looking. There's something." She pulled a dusty, oversized volume closer. "It's not a full fix, but… it's a containment method. Temporary. A ritual to reinforce the 'threshold between planes.' "
Ayumi raised a brow. "So like a spiritual duct tape?"
"Pretty much." Yui leaned forward. "Could it help?"
Haruka shrugged. "If we do it right, maybe. If not, nothing happens."
"It's all we've got as of right now," Haru said, sitting up. "Let's try."
That Night – Behind the School
They waited until after sunset, when most people were already home.
Behind the school, the field was empty except for the circle Haruka had drawn in the dirt with a broken stick. The symbols were sharp, carefully aligned.
They stood around it in a square.
No costumes. No powers. Just four kids in jackets and scarves, trying something they didn't really understand. Haruka held the book in one hand and started reading from the faded instructions.
"Say the lines exactly," she said, then began the chant.One by one, the others joined in. The wind rustled the trees nearby, but nothing else moved.
No glow.
No crackling energy.
No eerie light.
They kept chanting…and yet nothing..but then the wind stopped completely.
And the silence got so loud it made Yui's ears ring.She felt a weird pressure behind her eyes—like something far away was almost noticing them. Like they were yelling into a void that nearly answered, but changed its mind.
Pop.
The pressure vanished. Just like that.The world returned to normal. Or at least, normal-ish. Haruka looked around, frustrated. "That was it. It didn't work."
"No sparks? No ghost-shield?" Haru said. "Come on, at least give me a lightshow."
"It wasn't supposed to be flashy," Haruka muttered. "But something should've happened."
Ayumi rubbed her arms. "So now what? Do we try again?"
Yui stared at the dirt. The symbols were still there, perfectly intact. But whatever had been wrong — the feeling in the air, the heaviness in her chest — was still there too.She whispered, "What if it's not that we messed up… but that it's already too far gone?"
That silenced them. No one responded, because none of them wanted to admit it might be true.
The Next Day – After School
Back in the library, Haruka scribbled down notes from everything they had found, eyes tired and serious. "There's no mention of a backup ritual," she said. "This was supposed to work if the breach was manageable."
"So we're past manageable," Haru muttered. "Damn.."
Yui looked at the window. The trees outside swayed, but the sky was still — too still. The clouds hadn't moved since they sat down. The wind outside didn't make a sound. She could feel it again, that pressure, subtle but wrong.
Ayumi whispered, "Is it just me, or does it feel like the world's… kind of off these days.."
"Not just you," Yui said.
Haruka exhaled. "Then we keep looking. There has to be something else. A deeper cause. Something hiding in the cracks."
"We didn't break it," Ayumi added. "But we're not the only ones living here anymore."
They all looked at each other.
They didn't know how to fix it.But they all knew they needed a better plan, and fast.