Transmorphic Umbras

Chapter 3 

Mae was dragged by Diana up to the rooftop, still puzzled by her friend's actions, to the point where she was unable to say anything or to resist at least. When they finally reached the rooftop, Diana roughly yanked Mae's hand away, which made her stumble.

"What's up with you two!?" Mae shouted at her two friends who just stared at her. "Guys, this is not a funny joke!" She assumed that this was one of their pranks, but the situation neither looked like a prank nor a joke at all. 

Finally, someone broke the silence. "To be honest, we don't really like you," Diana said in a chilling tone that sent shivers down Mae's spine.

"Huh..? What do you mean…" She replied on the verge of crying.

"We had enough of your crap, Mae. It isn't fair for you to cheat whenever we are playing! Games should be played fair and square." A serious look on Mikaela's face gradually frightened Mae.

"I'm sorry if I did that, but I thought we were over it earlier!"

"Oh? YOU just THOUGHT we were over it…" The two suspicious friends started walking in circles around Mae. "No doubt that you also cheated in our quiz earlier… Maybe you did cheat in our previous quizzes and activities." 

Her fear began to accelerate, making her words come out in a stutter. "W-what!? I already told you, I studied! W-why can't you trust me!?" 

"Why would we trust you?" They said in perfect sync. "After you cheated and cheated... You lied, you manipulated, you used us-"

"What are you saying??? You two are freaking me out! Tell me, what's going on!?" She could tell that one more word from them, she'd lose her mind.

"Too late, Mae," Diana said. "Now, you are going to pay for it." Mikaela followed.

They stopped walking and raised their hands as the two of them were about to attack Mae. However, a strange boy interrupted them. He swiftly slashed their hands with an invisible air, probably his magic, as he pushed them hard on the floor, causing them to be knocked out for a bit. Meanwhile, Mae lost her balance because of the shock from the attack and tripped. 

He quickly stepped in front of the girl on the floor, shielding her from her 'friends'. He drew out spiritual energy from his hands, and that same energy unexpectedly formed into a Scythe. He pointed the blade toward the two suspicious friends.

"H-hey, what are you doing!? They're my friends!" She asked, attempting to stop him from attacking further.

"Mae, they're not your friends! They're apparitions! Don't be fooled." An ordering tone came out from Haruto.

Hearing his words, her eyes widened in shock. "What? What do you mean!?"

"They're called Transmorphic Umbras- or just umbras. They disguised themselves as one of your friends to capture you as one of their own. Careful, they're dangerous!" 

The fake Diana ran towards Mae, still targeting her. "Watch out!" Haruto manages to shield Mae with the help of his weapon. Realizing that she was still on the floor, she got up from her position and quickly changed her pace. Haruto then stretched his arms and tossed the fake Diana from him.

Umbras? Apparitions? Mae couldn't process what was going on... Ah, that's right. She had heard it from Mikaela earlier while she was waiting for lunchtime. It looked like she wasn't paying attention, but the truth was that she liked listening to Mikaela's stories, even though they probably weren't true. 

She didn't expect they were real at all! She watched Haruto and her two fake friends, striking and dodging every attack they threw at each other. Moments later, Mae noticed the two fake girls showing off their true forms.

They are short little entities with black fluids all over their body. These black fluids flow disgustingly like a dripping ink. Their faces are so distorted that you can't even distinguish their nose, mouth, or eyes. One of them spoke:

"Ugh! An ancient spirit has gotten in our way!"

"Be wary of him, he's the most dangerous spirit to be dealt with. That's Haruto, the wishing ghost!" The other replied.

"Eek! It's exciting to fight a dangerous spirit!" 

"Hey! Focus, you idiot! We're only after that girl, pay attention!"

The boy interrupted the two. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you lay a finger on this girl. Otherwise, I would get in trouble~" Haruto jumped at the two umbras, then raised his Scythe to attack their vital point. In one swing, he got one of them slashed.

"No!!!" The other umbras watched its comrade turn into ashes. "You'll pay for that!" As it attacked Haruto, he quickly dodged and saw an opening. He began swinging his weapon again and slashed the umbras in half, gradually turning into ashes. 

"I think you're the ones who should be paying for their sins," Haruto said, standing meters away from the burning bodies of the umbras, its ashes slowly disappearing into thin air. The light of the sun hits Haruto's body, making him more invisible and crystal-like because of his transparent body, blinding Mae's vision. His Scythe was still intact in his hands, and the wind slightly blew against his vest that looked like a cape.

Mae, the heroine of this story, looked pathetic under the heat of the sun, watching Haruto do the work. She got teary eyes as she ran towards Haruto to hug him.

"HaRuToO~" As expected, she passed through Haruto's body, and her face hit the ground because of inertia. "Ow… I forgot."

 . . . 

"Thank you, Haruto for saving my life!" Mae gratefully bowed to Haruto. "How should I repay you..?"

"Nah, it's no biggie^^ Besides, I would be in trouble if anything happens to you, hahaha!"

"Get into trouble..?"

"Ah, it's nothing." He shrugged. "By the way, you can pay me back by having tutor sessions with me for the whole two weeks!"

"What!? No way!! I wanna go home straight from school or hang out with my friends after class!" Mae started to whine, thinking that if she did so, Haruto would find her childish tantrums annoying.

"Hmm..? Don't you wanna spend some time alone with me?~" Haruto leaned closer to her face, giving her a smirk.

"Hey, knock it off! I have to go eat my lunch now… Lunch… Right, my friends! I almost forgot..! I have to go, Haruto. I'll see you later!" Mae quickly rushed down the stairs and went straight to the Cafeteria. While she was running, her mind was raining with thoughts.

She couldn't believe she was deceived by those umbras. Perhaps, those disgusting entities were right about her being a big jerk. She couldn't even see through their tricks! She should've known better because they're her friends. Yet, she was fooled. To think that she almost thought that they disliked her, that they betrayed her. She was simply clouded with judgment and her fear got the better of her.

When she entered the cafeteria, she saw her friends leaving their lunchboxes unopened, their expressions seemed getting bored of waiting for someone.

"Geez! Where is that girl? I'm getting hungryyy!" Mikaela whines.

"Speaking of the devil, there she is." Diana saw Mae walking towards their table, empty-handed.

Mikaela eyed her with suspicion, bombarding her with questions. "Mae, where's your lunchbox? Isn't it in your locker? And you look exhausted. What happened?"

Mae stopped at a distance and stood there. Her friend's words just pass through her ear. "Guys... You should've eaten your lunch without me." Mae sat on the chair between the two. Diana adjusted herself to give more space for her.

"Idiot, we're not going to eat without our missing friend. Now, where's your lunchbox, girl? We're getting hungry now." Mikaela impatiently said, hearing Diana's stomach growl.

Before she knew it, her heart was moved by her friend's answer. Mae is starting to feel guilty about the things she's done to them: cheating on them just to get the desired results. She forced herself not to cry to avoid misunderstandings. Now that her stomach was violently rumbling, she totally forgot to bring her lunchbox- heck, she didn't even know where her lunchbox was. She's so lost in thought from what happened earlier. 

"I'm… sorry." A tear suddenly flowed on her cheek. The two girls were left dumbfounded by the sudden apology and hurriedly wiped the tears away while consoling her.

"Mae, what happened? Did someone steal your lunchbox?? Let's go find that bully and teach them a lesson!" Mikaela said to make her feel better.

Diana kept caressing from her back to her shoulders to make her feel comforted. Mae kept crying and crying, feeling more guilty now. She could feel their gentle rubbing of her back comforting. Yes… These two are her real friends. Real friends waiting for her in the cafeteria, not even eating their food without her.

Mae wrapped the two of them around her arms and gave them a tight hug. "Thank you, guys…" tears still trickling from her eyes as they joined together in a hug.

A few days later, they'd already forgotten about the incident and focused more on their studies. 

————————————

At the classroom 

"Class dismissed." as Mr. Watapampers exited the door, the students started to get their lunches and ate with their friends. Mae was about to pull out her lunchbox from her bag when Mikaela interrupted her.

"Mae! I have exciting news!" Mae stopped what she was doing and started to pay attention to Mikaela. Diana also listened.

Curious about what it was, Mae asked. "What's the news?"

"Felix is going back home from London! And he's attending this school!" She replied in an exhilarated manner.

"What!? Really?" Mae's eyes sparkled as she heard the news, her smile reaching at either side of her ear. "But isn't it too late to accept transferee students?"

"Mae, our first term just ended. The school is still accepting new students." Mikaela clarified.

Diana's eyebrow raised as they continued the conversation without clarity. "Uhm hey guys, what's going on? Who's Felix?"

"Felix is my cousin. Though he's not going to be in our year since we're 2 years apart from him. I, Felix, and Mae used to play a lot when we were kids... Aww, it's giving me nostalgia." Mikaela explained.

"I know..! Hah… I miss those days." Mae felt the nostalgia too, an old friend coming back from miles away… Who wouldn't want to reminisce the memories of a person you once shared with?

Diana's face instantly went down, feeling left out. "Must be nice having a childhood best friend."

Mikaela and Mae looked at each other, then at Diana, and then smiled. "Aww, don't worry, we'll introduce you to Felix! He's a reliable brother, especially to Mae." Mikaela playfully nudged Mae's shoulder and smirked, giving her a 'look'.

Her brows squint at that look, eyeing Mikaela suspiciously. "Why are you looking at me like that..?" 

"Ah, I suddenly remembered that when we were kids, you confessed to me that you have a crush on my cousin!" 

Hearing that, Mae's cheeks flushed in red. "W-wha!? Huh- Ehh!? When???" 

"Ooo Mae~ Didn't know you had a childhood crush~"

"Uh- Let's go eat our lunches now! I'm starving!" Mae storms off the classroom with her lunchbox.

"Haha..! Mae! Wait up!" Mikaela and Diana catch up with Mae.

Despite all that bickering with her friends, she couldn't help but feel impatient about his arrival. Felix is someone she looks up to because of his caring and reliable demeanor as an older brother. She admits that her affection for him surpasses that of a brother.

 Because for Mae, she doesn't have a crush on Felix... She likes him.

Extra

An old friend from an ocean away finally comes back with an important mission to fulfill. The arrival of this friend… made Mae decide on her second wish... Haruto approved of it, but maybe this wish will soon be the doom of her… or not?