Mae Ikari!

   Hao Hao sat in her chair and quietly studied over her own notebook. Emily was still charting out the lesson plan on the chalkboard, and Daichi was out looking for the students that hadn’t arrived yet, so her concentration wasn’t required yet. A few people were whispering amongst themselves. It was quiet enough that Hao Hao could almost say she felt comfortable there.

Alice came over to Hao Hao, away from the group she had just been talking with. She frowned and explained, “Joy has said she can’t join. Too busy keeping up her jogging routine.”

Hao Hao nodded. She wasn’t familiar with everyone’s names yet, but she could make out that, with the previous two (Sumi and Cleo) included, that didn’t leave many other people to ask. Alice shuffled in her seat as she got out her notebook. Jotting down ideas about who to ask and how, probably. The room was quiet. Even as Daichi dragged in Kirai, it remained relatively quiet. No arguments, no shouting. Hao Hao enjoyed the peace.

It was peaceful and quiet… until it wasn’t.

“Mae Ikari has arrived!”

With the announcement, a girl with bright red hair entered the room. Her skin was the darkest of any of the students; darker than Hao Hao had ever seen her lifetime. It made her purple eyes stand out all the more. With her came a strong strawberry scent; perfume. Hao Hao had to hold back a sneeze.

The self-proclaimed Mae Ikari walked in and put her hands to her hips, looking over all of them, making sure they had all looked up. Her eyes drifted over Hao Hao a moment longer than the rest. Hao Hao felt uneasy until Kirai spoke, “We can tell you’re here.”

“Good! Mae Ikari’s presence must be known to all.” And with that she made her way to her desk on the right end of the class.

Hao Hao looked to Alice, whispering “Do you know her?”

“Oh, yeah.” Alice said. Though the topic seemed to make her uncomfortable (she shuffled in her seat and straightened the pencils on her desk that were already straight), she explained, “Mae’s been longer than most of us, actually.”

“Has she always been like… um, like this?”

Alice glanced at Mae, and then said, “She’s always been a little loud, but this is new.”

Hao Hao nodded. That could explain why most of the room went quiet. She was like a senior to them; it was probably quite odd to see her act out like this. Hao Hao herself was surprised too. This was the girl Jim had mentioned before; Hao Hao had thought the two of them might be similar, but… that clearly wasn’t the case.

As the room started to distract themselves, Shui appeared beside Hao Hao’s head. She jumped, and Alice looked over, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”

Alice turned away, and ended up in a conversation with Sumi and the others. She looked at Kirai’s desk beside her and saw he had headphones in his ear. Listening to music, probably. Hao Hao guessed Kirai was a rock and roll sort of person.

Either way, it felt safe to whisper to her spirit, “What is it?”

“Look.” Shui said, eyeing Mae. It said, “Look with your spirit vision.”

Hao Hao nodded, and within a blink, it was like a dark filter has been applied to the entire room. Everyones spirits still wandered about as they did before. Alice’s spirit, Color, seemed happier; painting on the walls all around them with bright pastels.

By Mae Ikari is something strange. Not one, not two, but five spirits surrounded her. Not only that, but none of them were white. One was red, one was orange, one was blue, another was purple, and the last one was black (like Kirai’s). Hao Hao asked Shui, “Is that normal?”

“No.” Shui said.

“Are they hurting her?”

“No.” it explained simply. “Spirits can’t hurt people. We’re merely manifestations of our chosen person, but the point that her spirit is in so many pieces worries me.” And for the first time, she saw her own spirit frown. On the fuzzy bundle of light it looked wrong. It said, “Talk to her when you can, will you? She may need help.”

Hao Hao wasn’t feeling very confident about that, but before she could argue she blinked and the room was bright again. No spirits in sight, including her own. She sighed as she looked down at Mae. The girl was looking at herself in the mirror while applying mascara; the complete opposite of Hao Hao in every way it seemed.

When Alice finished her conversation with the other girls, Hao Hao asked her, “Could we ask her to join the garden club?”

“Oh.” Alice said. Nervously, she explained, “I definitely wanted to at first. Mae would’ve been able to help attract the other students for sure, but… I’m not sure I should ask now. It looks like she’s going through something.”

So that was a no from Alice. Still, Hao Hao thought that she should at least try to ask her. As nervous as the idea made her.