For the second time that week, Sen Yukio walked up the cracked steps of Shady High, kicking the same stray pebble he had the day before. And just like yesterday, the school stood empty and silent.

He whistled. “Still creepy.”

Behind him, Hakari Yun arrived with a half-hearted stretch, looking around with mild interest. “Huh. Guess we’re actually doing this.”

Luke Choi was last to appear, walking slightly ahead of someone else this time—his younger brother, Yen. Yen hesitated on the steps, adjusting the camera strap around his neck. Unlike Luke, who looked more annoyed than anything, Yen’s expression was somewhere between nervous curiosity and unease.

“So…” Yen murmured, scanning the vacant building. “This is it?”

Sen turned, blinking at the new arrival. “Huh. Is this…?”

Luke sighed. “My brother.”

Yen gave a small wave. “Uh. Hi.”

Hakari raised a brow. “So, your parents are cool with this?”

Luke crossed his arms. “They don’t check the mailbox.”

“Fair enough.”

“Welcome to… The School of the Damned…...” Sen grinned.

Yen blinked. “The…. School of the… Damned?”

“We renamed it.” Hakari looked smug.

Luke pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, we didn’t.”

“We just need some mattresses, and boom, new dorms.” Sen, ignoring him, already had some ideas.

Yen looked at Luke. “Are they… always like this?”

“Unfortunately.”

As they wandered inside, dust floated in the air, catching some of the dull morning light through the windows.

Yen wrinkled his nose. “It’s… dusty.”

Hakari ran a finger along a windowsill. “Yeah, kinda.”

Sen sneezed.

Luke frowned. “It’s been ‘abandoned’ for one day. What did you expect?”

“Dunno. More dust?” Hakari shrugged.

Yen pulled his camera from around his neck and snapped a quick photo of a row of untouched desks.

Luke sighed. “We should probably clean, before it gets worse.”

Sen gave him a horrified look. “Did you just say clean?”

Hakari tilted her head. “I mean… he’s got a point.”

Sen looked betrayed. “You too, Hakari?”

“I don’t want to clean, but I also don’t wanna deal with dust in the future.”

Luke nodded. “We’ll get to it later.”

They did not get to it later.

After settling into their usual spots, a classroom with enough chairs and desks to feel vaguely like a real one, Luke pulled a notebook from his bag.

“Alright,” he started, in his most serious ‘business’ voice. “If we’re going to be here, we should still be learning.”

Sen groaned loudly.

Hakari made a face. “Why?”

Luke sighed. “Because legally, we have to be in school. And since we’ve decided to come here instead of transferring somewhere else, we might as well make use of the time.”

Sen slumped against his desk. “We didn’t decide to come here, it just kinda happened.”

“Semantics.” Luke continued, flipping through his notes. “We’ll follow an A/B schedule. I’ll be the teacher since I’m ahead in my studies. Today is an A day—English, Math, Science, and Geography.”

Yen, sitting beside him, looked mildly concerned. “You made a schedule?”

Luke gave him a sharp look. “Of course I did.”

Sen made gagging noises.

Hakari looked vaguely thoughtful. “I guess it’s better than language classes.”

Sen sat up. “Wait. Who voted for this? I don’t remember voting.”

Luke snapped his notebook shut. “It wasn’t a vote. It’s happening.”

Sen groaned. Hakari shrugged. Luke began teaching, starting with English.

It took approximately four minutes for Sen to get distracted.

As Luke explained symbolism in literature, Sen doodled on his paper, filling the margins with ridiculous cartoon faces. Hakari, while not actively resisting, stared at her desk with a blank expression, only half-listening. Luke, meanwhile, took this very seriously, standing at the front like an actual teacher.

“…and that’s why the river symbolizes renewal,” he finished, adjusting his glasses.

Silence.

Hakari blinked. “What river?”

Luke sighed. “The one I’ve been talking about for the last ten minutes.”

Sen held up his notebook, revealing a very dumb-looking fish with a mustache. “I drew a river.”

Luke looked like he was reconsidering his life choices. Yen, watching from the side, hid a small smile behind his hand.

Luke rubbed his temples. “Fine. That’s enough for today.”

Sen fist-pumped the air. “Finally.”

“So, what now?” Hakari stretched.

Sen grinned. “We investigate.”

Yen tilted his head. “Investigate what?”

Sen threw out his arms. “The mystery of the abandoned school.”

Luke scoffed. “There’s no mystery. The school shut down.”

Sen leaned forward. “But why?”

Luke opened his mouth, then hesitated. He didn’t actually know.

Hakari tilted her head. “Yeah… I guess it is kinda weird.”

“Didn’t they send out closure letters?” Yen asked. “You found one in our mailbox yesterday.”

Luke nodded. “They did. But Annie and Mary don’t check the mailbox. And I assume your parents are the same.”

“Something’s gotta be up.” Sen grinned.

“We can investigate during our free period.” Luke sighed. “Which starts now.”

They started poking around the school, checking classrooms and hallways. At first, nothing seemed too unusual—just empty rooms and old papers. But the longer they wandered, the more unsettling it became. Uncollected homework remained on desks, waiting for teachers who would never return. A backpack lay open in the hallway, untouched. The place was abandoned, and a mess was left behind.

“…Creepy,” Sen muttered, stepping over a fallen binder.

Hakari nudged a forgotten jacket with her foot. “Kinda feels like the world ended.”

Luke didn’t say anything, but his grip on his notebook tightened. Then, they found something strange. The principal’s office door was unlocked. Inside, the desk was mostly empty. Whoever left had taken most things with them, but in one of the drawers, they found an old student’s notebook.

Sen flipped it open. “Huh. Looks normal.”

Luke peered over his shoulder. “Look at the last few pages.”

Sen turned to the end.

Written like someone was rushing, was a single sentence, repeated over and over:

"Something is wrong. Something is wrong. Something is wrong.”

The handwriting grew messier with each line.

Sen stared. “Oookay. That’s not creepy at all.”

Yen snapped a photo.

Hakari exhaled. “So… what now?”

Luke slowly closed the notebook.

“We come back tomorrow.”

And this time, no one hesitated before agreeing.