||click to see spoiler||

Henry was standing in front of the school gates. He had to walk back after leaving from the camp next to the school. He was covered in dirt.

"I'm the one that doesn't belong right now..."

He went to one of the bathrooms on the ground/first floor to clean himself a little. When he came out, he saw a student, or at least a boy wearing the school uniform, marching barefoot down the hallway while holding a stop sign. He lifted his legs as high as his waist, and every time he took a step, he put a finger in his mouth and made a popping sound. Henry looked carefully at this boy. Did such a thing not belong in a school? Actually, that was the wrong question. Did this person not belong in this school, Kanzen High, where nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, and not in a good way? Henry could not be sure, so he decided to ask.

"Excuse me," He approached him, "do you by any chance... Not belong?"

The boy stopped. He looked at Henry, unsure how to answer. He began thinking about the question, really hard. As he did, his gaze began to look beyond. His eyes widened, for he seeketh the truth, or, mayhap, as nothing appeareth certain in the worl'd, the lack of truth.

"Sorry! I meant to ask if you're a student here or not."

"Oh. Y-yes, of course. Can't you see the uniform?"

"Yes, I know. I just wasn't sure. Why are you doing... this?" He waved his hands in his general direction.

"I'm a member of the Clinically Insane club. I'm just fulfilling my duties."

"Ah, the clinically insane club. I should've guessed. Sorry, I'm a new student."

"No problem at all! In fact, I'm here if you need me to show you the way around these halls. The school is quite big, it's not unusual for first years to get lost trying to find a bathroom."

"I have noticed that. Thanks for the offer, but I'm a bit... involved with this thing I'm doing. I can see you're busy, I don't want to waste your time."

"If you say so. But don't hesitate to ask around if you're in trouble!"

"Will do. See you!"

"Bye!"

The boy went back to his march. The rhythmical pops slowly faded out as he left.

"That was a proper social interaction if I do say so myself. I guess people in school uniforms are always going to belong."

Henry began his track. He walked down all kinds of hallways. Some were straight, some curved, one of them had a sloping tile roof instead of a pavement. They had doors, or gates, or hatches, which lead to classrooms, storage rooms, but also other hallways. With every step his standard for what could be considered out of place lowered drastically. After a set of stairs, an escalator, two elevators, once down and once up since he got off at the wrong floor, a water slide without the water ( and he noticed a small hatch as he slid down the spiraling tunnel, one that said Clinically Insane club. But he couldn't stop himself to open it), and a stepladder, he was about to give up, both the treasure hunt and the school as a whole. But as he was walking down one of the rare hallways that could be considered normal, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Out of the window, sitting in the schoolyard, was a Moai statue, with its squared chin and pointy nose looking straight at him. Henry looked down at the artifact, unsure on whether it could be considered more out of place than half of the stuff he had seen, but since he didn’t know where else to look, he decided to investigate. Thankfully, he had seen that the elevator could bring him directly to the basement’s stairs that led to the main entrance, so he had a quick-ish way to leave.

Approaching the monolith, he began to sense a soft hum coming from within the rock. Placing his ear on the statue didn’t make the humming any louder, but he could feel its vibrations. Ignoring any supernatural shenanigans (we’re not in a fantasy after all. This story is grounded in realism), Henry began to look for the number. He walked behind the stony head and saw a big eight carved on its nape, with a pink piece of paper wedged inside of it.

“I guess the second number is also an eight…”

He took out the paper from the statue, slowly, carefully, a bit scared of the supernatural to be completely honest, and opened it up.

“Good job!”, the paper said, “This statue is a fake, just like Tosou-sensei was a fake!”

Henry paused for a second, realizing that he was going to need a lot of luck to solve the next puzzles. He gathered his courage and continued reading.

“But get ready, this is just the beginning!”

He stopped again. He didn’t have much courage in him. He decided to instead read out of curiosity, and not think about whether he would have the strength to finish this treasure hunt or not.

“As I was saying, this is just the beginning. The next number is going to be harder—”

Henry stopped again. He thought it was a bit weird that this letter was written as if it was spoken dialogue, and he found the use of “as I was saying” very out of place.

“Stop interrupting me!” The letter continued.

“Sorry.” Henry answered to the written, silent letter.

"In the heart of the school, below the center of our school lives, lies the chaos of our existence. Find its shape, and you will find your path.”

Henry felt his life energy leave his body. He desperately tried to fantasize about a future harem, with Gimei as the first victim member. This was the reason he was doing this, a utopic (or dystopic, depending on the point of view) future where others would be the ones going through hellish escapades for him!

This was the only way he had to motivate himself.

“Alright, let’s think seriously about this. The heart of the school. Considering the nature of the building, I wouldn’t be that surprised if this school had a real, beating, heart-shaped room. But I get the feeling she means metaphorically. I don’t understand it, so I’ll skip it. Next: below the center of our school lives. The center of our lives? If I were to point at a center, it would be where we spend most of our time. Our classroom? I need to go to the room below it? I don’t know if this is wrong, but I do know that I don’t want to lose my mind in those hallways anymore. I’m going there.”

Henry went back to his class and incredibly managed to find the right room following simple logic: He went to the floor below and counted the number of doors from the stairs. The fact that logic managed to work almost made him tear up.

He knew for certain that he had found the right room, because, like the note had hinted had, it was in utter chaos. Imagine all the school supplies that can fit inside a room, add double the number of normal desks and chairs, sprinkle it all with old cloth and papers, and then make a hurricane whirl around the room for about thirty minutes. Do you have a mental image of what it could look like? Well then, now double it because just as many things hung from the ceiling, somehow tied to it with ropes.

“How did she manage to do this?” He questioned Gimei’s abilities, but quickly gave up remembering she was able to secretly dig her own grotto underneath the school, all on her own.

“…Find its shape, and you will find your path. I hope she doesn’t want me to tidy the room, because my solution would be a gas can and a lighter.”

Henry walked around the chaos, trying not to bump his head on one of the many chairs and desks hanging over him.

“Find its shape… Find its shape… Maybe if I move some of the things? Do they look like anything?”

He swung books, spun pencil cases, put a potted plant upside down, all to form outlines of what could have been a shape, but mostly wasn’t. Many a time, the ropes holding the items weren’t long enough to move them. He stopped, sat on the small bit of ground that had the space to allow him to sit, and looked at the messy scene in front of himself. It reminded him of his life.

“No, this is not the time for self-deprecating-but-relatable jokes! I need to think! I’m sure that I’m doing something wrong… I need to think more like her! Gimei wouldn’t try to make a shape with these things… Ah! That’s not what she told me to do! Find its shape, not make it! And if I need to find the shape,” He stood up in a fit of motivation, “It means it’s already there!”

His inner eyes opened. He saw himself analyzing the shape of every object in the room and projecting them into a 3D graph of potential combinations and negative space forms. What this translates to is “he squinted really, really hard”. Right after his eyes began to water, he saw the light. Specifically, he noticed that from the right point of view, the light coming from the windows created the shape of an arrow when it passed through the gaps between some of the items.

“Yes! It actually was negative space forms! I did it! I’m… a bit worried I managed to understand Gimei’s logic. She might be corrupting my brain.” Henry said to himself, unaware that the corruption of his brain had reached the maximum amount years ago.

The arrow pointed to a small table with a drawer. The only one in the room.

"…I should've checked in here before doing the puzzle."

He opened the drawer and saw the, now iconic, pink paper. It had the number eight written in bold lines. Henry was not happy about that, but he decided against getting angry and turned the paper to look at the hint for the next, mysterious number.

“Good job finding the secret shape, you’re getting closer and closer to the truth.”

“What truth? This is just her phone number!”

“What did I say about interruptions?!”

“Right, sorry.”

“This school is ruled by a queen, and between her subjects, four of them shine bright as her knights. One of these knights in particular shines brighter than the others, on account of his bald head. Within the light, you will find the way.”

“I have to admit, she’s ingenious.” Henry said, replacing the feeling of confusion he was fed up with for an odd sense of admiration. “I have no idea how the power hierarchy works in this school, but I might know where to start.”

“I have no clue of what you’re talking about.” Answered a girl wearing a red band around her arm. The white kanjis on the band could be adapted into English as Student Council.

“I don’t mean literal queen and knights! It’s more of a metaphorical way to describe your influence over the school.”

“What gave you the idea we have any strong influence over the school?”

“The throne you’re sitting on.”

The girl Henry was speaking to was the president of the Student Council. She had two spiky pom-poms attached to her head, which was a natural part of her hairstyle, unlike the two metal chains used as hair ties to hold them. Like Henry had pointed out, she was sitting on a throne made of gold, with a backrest much taller than her.

“I brought this in myself, it wasn’t given to me from the school.”

“But anime taught me that the student council is always at the top of the school hierarchy.”

“Listen, even if we had that amount of power over the school, and I wish we had the power to choose things inside this school, I would demolish three thirds of it if it was for me. And hopefully make a new one following a building plan that doesn’t look like a cubist painting.”

“Demolishing three thirds means demolishing the whole thing…”

“You're not listening! What I’m saying is that even if we had that kind of power, we still don’t have a bald person in the council.”

“Are you sure no one is wearing a toupee?”

“I can’t say I guarantee it, but I’m 100% sure there is no toupee in the student council. Look, if you’re looking for someone that could be a queen, talk to the school’s principal.”

“What about the knights? It’s them I’m really looking for.”

“Could they be the vice principals? Ah, now that I think about it, one of the vices is balding. Is that good enough, or do you want me to give you an electric shaver?”

"I'll see what to do once I get there. Thanks, I think talking to the balding vice principal is the right way to do this."

“No problem. Here,” The president passed him an iron lever.

Henry walked to the side of the room and fit the long knob into a large valve wheel. As he turned it, a metal curtain, part of the gray walls that surrounded the room, began to rise, revealing a wall-mounted ladder. He climbed out of the student council room and thanked the anime gods, which in all likelihood were thousand-years-old lolis, for making his next trip easier.

Henry knew the way to the principal's office since he had to go there when he started school. He didn't know, however, how to reach it from the point of the school he was at. It would be faster to go back to the school's entrance and follow the path he used before, but he didn't know how to get to it either. He thought about it a bit, and, since he was on the floor that touched the ground, he decided to simply get out from the first window he found. It would have been bad if someone saw him vault a window, but then he realized that the worst they could do was send him to the principal's office, which was where he wanted to go anyway.

He ended up reaching the office on his own, making the adventure faster, but less exciting. Upon coming there, he noticed that the principal didn't have her own office, but a large room shared with her vices. The door was open, and he was starting to get anxious. After all, these were the so-called (by Gimei) knights of the school. He wasn't sure if he should involve them in this hunt. He also remembered that these club activities are technically illegal, together with the whole club. But then he inadvertently made eye contact with one of the vice principals in the room, so he couldn't run away anymore.

"E-excuse me..." Henry looked around the room. There were only two people, both equipped with a traditional amount of hair. The vice he was looking for must've been somewhere else.

"Yes? Ah, you must be the new transfer student. I’m Kazoeruhito Taimou, you can call me Kazoe-sensei. Your name was Henry, right?

“Y-yes. Henry Tailer.”

“Are you adapting to the school well?"

"Yes... Finding the classrooms is a bit more difficult than I'd like, but other than that I haven't had any big problems."

"Ours is a large school. It can be challenging getting accustomed to it at first, but don't be afraid to ask if you get lost. Most students will gladly help you. So, do you need help with something?"

"Y-yes, I was looking for one of the vice principals. I haven't learned his name yet. He's the bal— I mean... He’s… The one who..."

Henry felt it would be rude to describe him as the balding one, so he stopped himself. But, lacking any other way to describe him, he slowly patted his head to hint at the fact he was balding. Something the vice principal found even more rude.

"...Nameruhito Toryou-sensei. You better remember his name next time. Nameru-sensei is also fine."

He turned around and pointed at the other man sitting at a desk behind him, hunched over dozens of papers. “That’s Taberuhito Happa, Tabe-sensei. He is also a vice principal.”

“Where is the last knigh— vice principal?”

“He already went home for the day. His name is Shiroishimamoyoukuroiferutopendenuritsubusuhito Shimauma.”

“…”

“People usually call him Shiro-sensei.”

“I will work hard to remember their names.” Henry said, having already forgotten Shiro-sensei’s full name. “Could you tell me where…” He had heard a lot of names in a short amount of time, he had to think hard to remember the right one. “Nameru-sensei! Do you know where he is now?”

“I think he went to check the gym equipment. I’m sure I can answer any question you might have had for him.” Kazoe-sensei smiled.

“Ehm… I’m afraid it’s something I need to hear from Nameru-sensei.”

“How come? We hold the same value in the school.”

“I-it’s… it’s about his… family?” Henry did not know where he was going with his lie.

“Oh no, did something happen to his family?”

“No, no! I’m just curious about his family.” He uncomfortably said.

“And why is that?”

“I… heard from a student that he had a very… interesting… family.”

“It’s not very nice to talk about someone else’s family, even more if it’s a vice principal! Who told you that?”

“N-no one in particular. It’s a rumor I heard around the school.”

“Not this again.” Kazoe-sensei mumbled. “Listen, it’s a simple family name. Sure, it’s a bit unusual, but he didn’t choose it and he shouldn’t be ashamed of it. It doesn’t say anything about who he is as a person! If you hear odd things about him because of his name, I want you to disregard them. Do you understand?”

“I do.” He didn’t.

“It feels bad when people spread rumors about you. I would know… Forget those rumors.” He patted Henry’s shoulder to push him out the door. “Now go, you probably have club activities at this time.”

“Thank you.”

Henry tried to look as polite as he could while he left the room, bowing at least three times. He went for the first corner he could find, where the vice couldn’t see him, and finally relaxed.

“How did I get away with that?! I was expecting some serious scolding!” He almost hyperventilated. “…gym! Nameru-sensei should be in the gym, or at least next to it.”

In a lucky strike of locations the gym was a separate building, and therefore Nameru-sensei should've been easy to find. And easy to find he was. This time he didn’t even have to vault out of a window to reach him. Not because he managed to get outside without getting lost, but because he happened to find the balding vice principal walking back to the office in one of the hallways. For convenience’s sake, this hallway is going to be unremarkable.

Henry wasn’t surprised by the balding. Obviously. It would be weird to be surprised by the balding head of a man in his fifties. Still, he couldn’t take his eyes off of the back of his head. The pink paper that contained both number and hint was taped to his glabrous scalp.

"I didn't know Gimei liked playing with fire that much." Henry mumbled to himself.

Or so he thought. As it turns out, saying anything while closely walking behind an unsuspecting person has a good chance of catching their attention.

“Pardon me?” Nameru-sensei turned to him.

“Oh- Sorry… My name is Henry Tailer… I’m the transfer student.”

“Ah, yes, I’ve heard. Do you need help with something?”

“Well... I was wondering… Does the back of your head itch, by any chance?”

“Excuse me?”

“Cease!” A scream echoed in the hallway.

A door swung open. A mysterious student literally jumped out of the room, rolled forward, did a somersault and landed on the tip of her feet. She struck a pose. The thick, black cape she wore around her neck somehow managed to not get tangled while she bounced around, and instead flowed behind her as if moved by a magic wind. She was wearing a dark orange, also known as brown, elastic suit, adorned with a metallic belt and many plastic decorations to make her look like an insectoid alien. Her right shoulder had an overly long pad protruding in the shape of insect jaws. On her head was an overly large pair of sunglasses with added antennae, shaded enough to hide her eyes, and therefore identity, technically speaking.

She also happened to sound exactly like Gimei.

“My name is Dark! Fighter! Kimei!” She took on a different pose with every new word of her name. “Henry Tailer!” She pointed at him with yet another new pose, “I am the leader of the Dark! Fighters!", more poses, "who will conquer the planet and rule over it! Then, we will expand to the rest of the galaxy and become the most powerful beings in the universe! But as things stand now, the success of your quest impedes my path to world domination! Shall you proceed with it, I will be forced to stop you!”

“Man, I’m trying to get a phone number!” Henry was exasperated.

“What is happening here? Who are you? Are you part of a gang?” The vice principal was justifiably confused.

“I am Dark! Fighter! Kimei! And, I’m sorry, but I will have to whisk you away from this student!”

“Can we talk about this?”

“I will not let you complete this rite that easily, Mr. Henry!”

“Stop with this nonsense! I don’t know what kind of club activity this is, but I cannot be involved. I have work to do.”

“This is not a club activity, Nameru-sensei. This is a delinquent activity! One for which you will have to catch me and scold me!”

“Delinquent? While very extravagant, I don’t see anything delinquent with what you’re doing.”

“Tsk, tsk, my dear vice principal! It seems that in the heat of the moment you have forgotten an obvious detail! Look! I'm wearing something that doesn't conform with the school's dress code!”

The vice principal gasped.

“You are right! Neither full-body elastic suits nor custom-made body armor is allowed inside the school!”

“You shall never catch me alive!” Gimei ran away. I meant to write Kimei, that was a typo.

“Running in the hallways is also forbidden! Come back here, Dark! Fighter! Kimei!” The vice principal rushed behind her at a fast pace.

Henry let out a big sigh. Defeated, he began to chase the duo.

POSTFACE

- MALICIOUS WORD INDEX

Moai statue: 🗿

Negative space: When you realize the stars are looking down on you, that’s a negative space.

Lolis: How Australian people call lollipops. Technically speaking, they spell it lollies, but don’t worry about that.

Balding: The process of losing one’s scalp hair, especially on the top part of your head, where your tophat would go. The desinence -ing hints at the fact that the action is still in progress, meaning the person in question isn’t completely bald yet.