Lunchtime came, but none of them felt like eating. Instead, they gathered beneath the narrow stairwell at the back of the school, where the light barely reached and the stone walls muffled outside chatter. It wasn't glamorous, but it was private …away from eyes and ears.
Airi sat against the wall with her knees drawn to her chest, her uniform still looking pristine despite everything. She hadn't said much all morning, just moved like someone operating on muscle memory. Haruka sat cross-legged beside her, while the rest — Yui, Ayumi, Haru, Daichi, and Kaito — formed a loose circle around them, school bags shoved to the side.
No one spoke at first.
Then Airi finally said, her voice low and quiet, "I don't want anyone to ever go through what I went through. What I saw."
Haruka nodded slowly, her brows creased. "We need to figure out what's happening. For real this time. This… this is getting out of hand."
Daichi, sitting beside Kaito, looked at Airi. "What happened that day… Can you tell us?"
Airi took a breath, lips trembling slightly before she steadied herself. "He wasn't himself. My dad. It wasn't him. The way he looked at me, the things he said… It was like something else was behind his eyes. Cold. Detached. Like a puppet being pulled by invisible strings."
Haruka's eyes flicked to the floor. "Possession," she said softly. "It has to be. We've never seen it happen before, but… if a spirit's powerful enough… maybe that's what it was."
That made Ayumi shiver slightly. She exchanged a glance with Yui, who looked equally unsettled. Haru, leaning back against the cold wall, folded his arms and stared at the floor, brows knit in worry.
"I've noticed weird stuff too," Haruka added. "Things disappearing from people's desks at school. Like, right in front of them. One second it's there, the next it's gone. No one even touches it."
"That's odd.." Kaito muttered.
Daichi leaned forward. "Is there a way to… enter the Limbo without waiting for a spirit to drag us in? Like… on purpose?"
Haruka frowned. "I don't know. Maybe if we catch whatever's doing this… if it shows itself. But right now? I don't even know what it is. It hasn't hurt anyone directly, just… pranks."
"Is it violent?" Yui asked. "Dangerous?"
Haruka shook her head. "Not yet. It's just toying with us. Playing games."
Haru exhaled. "Then I'll keep an eye out for anything else weird. If someone's pulling strings, we'll figure it out before they go too far."
"I'll watch too," Daichi said. "Same,"
Kaito added. "Just in case it escalates."
They turned to Airi.
"You don't have to help," Haru said. "Not now. You've been through enough."
Airi sat upright, her back pressing against the cold concrete wall. "What happened to me was horrible. And I don't think I'll ever fully recover from it. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm part of this now. Staying home, crying all day.."
her voice faltered, but she caught herself, "…that won't stop any of this. It won't bring them back. It won't undo what happened. But I can still do something."
Daichi looked concerned. "Airi, you just lost your parents. And not in some normal, explainable way. It was brutal. You're allowed to sit this out."
"Yeah," Ayumi said softly, kneeling beside her. "You're not weak for needing time."
"I know that," Airi said, a faint edge to her voice. "But please… just let me handle this in the way I know is best for me. I'm not asking anyone to understand. I just want to keep moving."
There was silence for a moment. No one argued. They respected her choice, even if it worried them. She wasn't okay, and they all knew that — but there was something unshakable in her voice, in her eyes. A weight that had settled and made her grow up too fast.
Kaito looked at her with quiet admiration, though he didn't say a word.
And for once, even Ayumi didn't have a sarcastic comeback.
Yui reached out and gently touched Airi's arm. "We'll stick together," she said. "We always will."
The bell rang, echoing through the hallway above them like a warning chime. The group stood, brushing off dust and grabbing their bags. None of them said it, but they all knew it — whatever was coming, it was going to be worse than before.
And it was already beginning to pull them in.
The air outside the school had been oddly still all morning. By the time lunch ended, the entire group found themselves outside by the courtyard, standing near the edge of the school garden where the grass had turned a brittle shade of yellow, and the sakura trees that should've been in full bloom had lost half their petals overnight. Haru kept glancing at the sky, feeling like something wasn't right. Kaito stood beside him, tense but quiet. Haruka, already unnerved from the strange things happening lately, scanned the ground like it might open up at any second.
Then it did.
A sharp cracking noise echoed like a whip through the air, and before anyone could process what was happening, the ground directly beneath Haruka gave out—not like an earthquake, not like something crumbling—more like space itself tore. It shimmered, warped, then vanished, and Haruka was gone in a blink.
She had just enough time to scream.
"Haruka!" Haru shouted, lunging forward, but the earth had already sealed shut.
There was a faint silver shimmer on the surface, like a mirror stretched too thin. It pulsed once, and then again. Yui reached out, heart pounding, her fingers trembling over the faint glow. She didn't touch it—she didn't need to. The moment she looked into it, she saw not her own reflection, but something else. Fog. Blackness. A strange, stretched sky.
"We have to go," Haru said, his voice hard. "Now."
No one hesitated.
They were pulled in—Yui, Ayumi, Kaito, Haru, Daichi, and Airi—all swallowed by the shimmering ripple like ink into water. As they fell, their transformation charms activated mid-air. Haru's earring ripped free, Daichi's pendant lit up. Kaito's glasses vanished, and his form shifted into that sleek version of himself. Yui's ankle bracelet pulsed green, Ayumi's ring flared, and Airi—clutching her bracelet—felt a surge of energy she hadn't felt since that night she made her wish.
When their feet hit the ground, they were in Limbo.
Gray, misty, soulless. And standing there already, her fists raised, breathing hard, was Haruka. She was transformed. Her stance was strong. But across from her, like some twisted reflection out of a circus nightmare, stood a figure none of them had ever seen before.
He was tall, lanky, dressed in mismatched colors—red, purple, gold. His clothes didn't fit properly. His face was covered in pale makeup, and a grotesque smile was painted across it in black. But his eyes—those weren't makeup. They shimmered like glass shards, sharp and impossibly amused.
"Ahh, hello children, you're all here!" the Jester grinned. "Good, good. I hate having to repeat myself."
Haruka didn't lower her fists. "What do you want from us?"
The Jester placed a finger to his chin. "Want? Oh, I don't want anything. I just came to play."
"We're not playing your sick games," Daichi snapped. "You've been messing with our school, people are scared—"
"People are boring," the Jester cut in. "But you? You're interesting. Besides, don't you like surprises?"
"You're insane," Ayumi hissed.
Airi stood frozen at the back, her knuckles white. Her voice cracked when she finally spoke. "Why Haruka? Why did you pull her?"
The Jester tilted his head. "Oh?… I didn't choose. I reached out, and she was the first to grab my hand."
"No one grabbed your—!" Kaito began, but the Jester was already pulling something from his coat.
A gold pocket watch.
It clicked open with a mechanical hum. The cracked glass gleamed, and the minute hand twitched erratically like it was being jerked by invisible strings.
"Let's play a game," the Jester sang. "It's called—How much time do you have?"
He twisted the watch.
Haruka stiffened. She gasped. Then her knees buckled.
Haru's face turned white. "Haruka!"
He sprinted forward, but Ayumi caught Haruka first. Her body had changed—it hadn't aged so much as it had thinned, like her energy had been sucked dry in seconds. Her face looked paler, her breathing shallow. Her transformation flickered.
Yui dropped beside her, pressing her hand to Haruka's back. "She's cold."
"She's dying," Kaito whispered.
The Jester smiled, as if observing children playing make-believe. "Ooooh. Not enough time in the bank, huh? That's what happens when you burn too fast, little candle."
"You're sick," Airi said suddenly, her voice cold and brittle.
"Sick?" the Jester turned toward her, smiling wider. "Oh no, sweetheart, I'm just returning you to where you're headed anyway."
Haru stepped in front of Haruka. "Bring her back."
"Why? She'll only die again later," the Jester shrugged. "But fine. Just this once."
He clicked the watch again.
Haruka gasped violently and bolted upright, clutching her chest. She coughed like she'd swallowed water. Ayumi hugged her tightly, trembling. Haru dropped beside them and held both his sister and Ayumi close.
The Jester watched it all with gleaming eyes.
Then, he turned to the rest of them. "I wonder… how much time you have left. Wouldn't it be awful to know you're almost out of it?"
No one spoke.
The fog around them swirled again, and with a crackle of static, the Jester bowed and vanished into the mist. Just like that.
They didn't even realize they'd been sent back until they were lying in the school grounds, dazed and silent.
Haruka sat upright, holding her chest. Haru didn't speak. Yui looked pale. Airi was staring at her hands, trying to keep them from shaking.