The girl with the silvery-white hair led White slowly through the exceptionally quiet, sterile hallways of the school. Each of their synchronized steps echoed softly against the concrete walls, and a volatile, curious mixture of profound confusion and intense wariness churned deeply inside him. She was special—there was no denying that now. She was the only other living soul who could actively see Bell. No one else in the entire city could layout their eyes on the child, and that impossible anomaly made everything feel incredibly strange, yet somehow monumentally important. Perhaps this mysterious girl held the exact answers he so desperately needed to rewrite his understanding of the universe.
As they finally stepped out into the wide, completely deserted schoolyard, Bell clung tightly to the fabric of his uniform pants, her small fingers trembling violently with a raw, instinctual fear. Her wide crimson eyes darted nervously ahead at the girl walking in front of them.
White swallowed hard, desperately trying to steady the frantic racing of his heart. "Who exactly are you? And what on earth do you want from me?" His voice was quiet, but it carried an undeniable, heavy need for the absolute truth.
The girl turned around smoothly, a faint, unbothered smile lighting up her delicate face. Her pristine silver hair shimmered softly in the morning daylight, and her deep eyes held a sudden, unexpected softness that made her seem simultaneously light-years distant and strangely kind.
"Oh, please forgive me for not introducing myself to you much sooner," she said gently, her voice like glass. "My name is Luna. And you must be White."
He repeated the name under his breath, letting the syllables settle in his mind. "Luna… you're the student council president, right? How does someone in your position possibly know anything about someone like me?"
She giggled lightly at that, the sound incredibly delicate yet carrying a sharp, dangerous edge. "So, you've actually heard of me, then. That saves us quite a bit of valuable time." Her gaze suddenly sharpened, locking into his. "And the truth is, White, I know far more about you than even your closest friends, Zen and Shu, could ever dream of."
White's breath caught completely in his throat. Luna stepped closer to him, her presence expanding, and he instinctively took a small, defensive step back onto the gravel. Luna slowly knelt down on the ground, reaching her hand inside her uniform pocket with an agonizingly deliberate slowness.
"Bell," she said softly, her voice dropping into a gentle cadence. "I have a little something here for you. You really like chocolate, don't you? Don't worry at all—it's perfectly safe, I promise."
Bell peeked out cautiously from behind White's leg, her red eyes wide with a heavy dose of hesitation. White offered her a reassuring, gentle nod, and only then did she carefully step forward to take the wrapped chocolate from Luna's outstretched fingers.
Luna smiled warmly, her expression softening completely as she extended her hand to softly stroke Bell's silver hair. "You're such an incredibly good girl." The sheer, unbridled tenderness in her voice caught White entirely by surprise.
She stood back up to her full height, her sharp, piercing brown eyes fixing right back onto his. "Now, White, would you be kind enough to tell me absolutely everything about Bell? I've been intensely curious about you ever since the afternoon I watched you completely ace your exam."
White's heart began to hammer violently against his ribs as a wave of realization flooded his mind. The day after that completely unexpected academic success, he had felt, from time to time, an unsettling, heavy sense of being watched from the shadows.
So, it was her... she was watching me all along.
Luna's voice dropped down to an absolute whisper, leaning in slightly. "It was quite the magnificent surprise—a boy with completely average, unremarkable grades suddenly tops the entire class roster. But even more than that fascinating little anomaly…" She hesitated for a brief second, her brown eyes darkening, then added, "The literal aura surrounding your body… it is completely unlike any living person's aura I have ever witnessed. It is darker, heavier, and more broken than anyone I have ever seen in my life."
"What… what do you mean by that?" White asked, his skin prickling.
"Never mind that for now," she replied quickly, waving the question away with a flick of her wrist.
He swallowed hard around the lump in his throat, feeling a deep, freezing chill settle over his bones. If she truly possessed the sight to see all of that, maybe—just maybe—she could help him understand the horrific mechanics of the wishes. But he had to be profoundly careful; too much depended entirely on what she did or didn't actively know.
"You say you know absolutely everything, but how can I possibly trust a single word out of your mouth?" he challenged quietly, narrowing his eyes. "Seeing Bell is one thing, but the rest of this… it simply doesn't add up."
She smiled back at him, thoroughly amused by his resistance. "Trying to coax answers out of me with clever, defensive words, aren't you? How adorable."
Her absolute, unyielding confidence thoroughly unnerved him. If he lingered out here in the open yard any longer, her sharp eyes might see through his defenses entirely and realize that Bell was the definitive key to everything—to his fragile wishes, his sister's condition, and the devastatingly heavy prices they actively demanded. For Bell's absolute safety, he had to keep that secret locked away in the deepest dark.
"Enough," White said firmly, cutting her off. "Bell, let's head right back inside the school building."
The moment he turned on his heel and began walking away, Luna's voice drifted through the air behind him, cold and heavy. "You literally returned from the exact edge of death, White."
He froze dead in his tracks, his entire body locking up as he glanced back over his shoulder. How on earth does she know about the crosswalk accident…?
She walked slowly past him, then leaned in slightly toward his ear, her voice turning incredibly playful yet deeply chilling. "You technically did die that night, but somehow, you miraculously came back to life. It is absolutely fascinating."
White's throat tightened up until he could barely draw breath. "How do you know this?"
"I already told you, White—I know absolutely everything there is to know about you," she said, her brown eyes gleaming with a manic intelligence. "If you truly want to learn more about what you are, come find me when you have the time." She gracefully slipped a small, folded piece of paper into his trembling hand, before her figure turned and disappeared softly into the shadows of the school corridor.
He folded the paper carefully with shaking fingers and slipped it securely into the depths of his school bag.
Bell looked up at him, her crimson eyes completely full of a deep, primitive unease. "Papa… who exactly was she? She's really, really scary."
White quickly knelt down on the gravel, brushing her silver hair out of her eyes with the gentlest touch. "I don't completely know yet, Bell, but you don't need to worry. I'm right here with you. Just promise me you'll be incredibly careful around her from now on."
Bell nodded her head solemnly, and together, they slowly walked back toward the bustling classroom.
Luna's parting words echoed relentlessly through the corridors of his mind. How could a regular student possibly know so much about life, death, and the unseen? Maybe, the second school lets out, I'll actively visit the location on this paper and find the answers I desperately seek...
Lost entirely in his own spiraling thoughts, White pushed open the heavy wooden classroom door. The second they crossed the threshold, Bell hopped excitedly onto the surface of his desk, her eyes wide in pure child-like wonder at all the stationary and textbooks scattered around her.
"Good morning, White!" came a pair of bright, cheerful voices from directly behind him.
Zen and Shu greeted them with warm, familiar smiles.
But White barely even heard the syllables of their greeting, his mind completely tangled up in the dangerous mysteries Luna had dropped at his feet.
Zen let out a loud laugh and playfully slapped the back of White's head. "Ouch! Hey! What the hell was that for?!" White snapped, his hand flying to the sore spot.
Bell, reacting instantly to her Papa's distress, leaned over and began patting his head with her tiny, gentle hands to soothe the pain.
"We literally said 'hello' to you twice, but you didn't respond at all. We honestly thought you might be completely asleep with your eyes open," Zen said with a wide, easygoing grin.
"Who on earth wakes someone up like that?" White muttered, rolling his eyes as he sank into his chair.
"White, you look incredibly troubled," Shu said kindly, her sharp eyes studying his tense posture. "If something is going wrong, please remember… we're always here to help you through it."
White looked at the two of them, taking a deep, ragged breath as an idea struck him. "Well… do either of you happen to know anything specific about Luna, the student council president?"
Zen's grin turned into a massive, knowing smirk as he forcefully nudged White's shoulder. "Oho! So, you're suddenly intensely interested in the student council president now? Look at you go, White!"
"What? You… you actually like her?" Shu's cheeks instantly blushed a deep crimson, and she looked away awkwardly, her voice dropping.
"Papa, what exactly does the word 'like' mean?" Bell asked innocently, her wide red eyes tilting in pure, unknowing curiosity.
Thoroughly annoyed and overwhelmed by their immediate teasing, White stood straight up from his desk and stretched his aching limbs. "Forget it. I have to find my answers elsewhere."
"Wait, wait! Come back, I was only joking with you!" Zen called out loudly after him, laughing.
Bell, completely unfazed by the tension, began running around the perimeter of the classroom, holding her arms out wide and pretending to fly around the desks like a loud airplane while White simply let his mind wander out the window.
After a few moments of quiet, Zen's face turned surprisingly serious. He leaned in across the desk, his voice dropping into a low murmur. "But seriously, about Luna… there are some really dark rumours going around the school."
"Rumours?" White asked, his interest instantly piqued despite his best efforts to stay detached.
"You haven't heard a single thing?" Zen glanced over at Shu, who offered a slight, solemn nod of confirmation.
"No. What kind of rumours are we talking about?"
"They say she completely gets whatever she wants in this school, by absolutely any means necessary," Shu whispered, her eyes darting toward the door as if the girl might materialize. "Even the senior teachers are completely wary of crossing her."
Zen nodded his head in serious agreement. "She's known across the district for being utterly ruthless. She's single-handedly gotten students expelled for the most minor infractions. It's honestly best to avoid getting on her bad side entirely, White."
A heavy, freezing shiver ran straight down White's spine. Luna was not just a strange girl with a special gift—she was actively dangerous to their survival. But if she truly cares about Bell… what does she want from us?
Suddenly, a sharp, panicked scream broke the quiet atmosphere of the morning classroom.
"What on earth is happening?! Why did the box of chalk suddenly disappear into thin air like that?!"
"Hey, look over at the blackboard! A massive butterfly drawing is coming out of absolutely nowhere!"
White snapped his head around and his heart dropped. Bell was floating near the front board, her small hands guiding a piece of white chalk through the air, her face smiling with pure, delightful glee as she manifested her imagination for the room. Because she was moving physical objects, the classroom was panicking.
"Bell! Stop causing trouble right now!" White yelled out instinctively, his voice booming across the room.
The exact second the words left his mouth, every single eye in the classroom turned slowly to lock directly onto him.
"White…?" Shu asked, her face completely contorted in absolute confusion. "Who are you talking to?"
"I—I desperately need to use the restroom right now!" White stammered out, his face flushing with heat. He lunged forward, scooping the invisible Bell tightly into his arms, and rushed frantically out of the classroom before anyone could press him further.
They hurried up the concrete stairs all the way to the school rooftop—their quiet, isolated sanctuary away from the chaos.
"Bell, you have to remember," White panted out, setting her down on the ground, "you absolutely cannot cause trouble like that, and you cannot touch anything without my direct permission. People will think I'm going insane."
"Okay, Papa," she said, her face turning incredibly serious as she looked at her shoes.
White sighed, gently patting her head to let her know he wasn't truly angry, and turned around to head back inside when a voice suddenly called out. Aris was standing near the rooftop doorway, waving at him with a bright, radiant smile.
"White!"
"So, you actually made it back to school! What exactly did you manage to forget at home this time?" White asked, a smirk playing on his lips.
She teased him with her piercing blue eyes, stepping closer. "Oho, are you really that interested in my daily schedule, White?" she said, letting out a small chuckle.
Annoyed by yet another round of teasing, White simply brushed right past her toward the stairs.
"Wait, White, hold on!" she called out again, chasing after his stride.
"It was just my history notebook, alright?" she admitted defeat, catching up to his side.
He let out a long sigh. "Sometimes I honestly feel like I'm handling two identical versions of Zen."
She laughed loudly at the comparison and quickly changed the subject. "We're still definitely going out after school today, right?"
"To where?"
"You completely forgot!" she pouted dramatically, crossing her arms. "You literally promised to treat me to that new café if I kept your television secrets safe from the class."
"Oh, right. That." White paused, thinking of the folded paper resting in his bag. "But… can we please postpone it for another day? I have some incredibly urgent things I need to take care of the second the bell rings."
She pouted heavily, but then a sly smile broke across her face. "Fine, I'll let you off the hook today. But it's going to cost you double the treats next time."
"Deal," White said, letting out a breath of relief.
She beamed triumphantly, her blue eyes flashing, and they made their way back inside the building while Bell played quietly nearby in the corridors.
Later that afternoon, the final school bell rang out across the campus. Zen left immediately for his sports practice, while Shu walked up to White's desk, her fingers nervously gripping her bag strap as she asked if they could walk home together.
"I'm really sorry, Shu, but I have some other major commitments and work to take care of, so I can't walk with you today," White said, offering an apologetic look.
She smiled a bit sadly, but nodded her head. "See you tomorrow morning then, White."
Looking at her departure, White felt a profound sense of relief seeing how openly and gently she was finally beginning to speak to him after the rooftop incident. He called out sharply before she reached the door, "Hey, Shu… sorry to pry, but are you truly alright now? And if you ever want me to… I can come along and talk to your parents with you."
She stopped dead in her tracks, turning her head back. A quiet resolve settled over her face. "I want to try to face them myself first. But… if I truly need the help, I promise I'll ask you."
"I'm always right here," he said firmly.
She offered him one last genuine smile and left the room. White wasted no more time; he pulled the folded slip of paper out of his bag and read the location Luna had written down: The Paranormal Clubroom.
He walked down the deserted, dimly lit hallway of the old school building, his heart pounding a steady rhythm against his ribs. Reaching the old wooden door, he took a massive, stabilizing breath and pushed it wide open.
Inside the dimly lit room, Luna sat calmly at a grand desk, completely surrounded by strange occult books and artifacts. She was waiting for him, that identical, enigmatic smile playing across her lips.
"Welcome, White," she said softly, her brown eyes gleaming in the twilight. "I've been waiting very patiently for you… and for Bell."