The handwriting was unfamiliar to both Yuto and Chinen. “Who wrote this to us?” Yuto wondered.

Chinen examined the writing closely. “Could this be Ayaka’s handwriting?”

Yuto stared at it. “Would she even thank us? She doesn’t seem to be a person that would.”

“When we find her, we should ask her anyway.” Chinen suggested.

They rushed across the school grounds in search of Ayaka. They checked every single spot that they thought that she might be at, however, she was nowhere to be found.

“Where could she have gone?” Yuto was catching his breath.

“We don’t have any time left. We’ll have to go back to class now.” Chinen tugged. It was the elements class and the two of them might be close to being late again.

Ayaka was not at the bleachers when they arrived, which puzzled the two even more.

The girls surrounding Daiki were laughing. “That Ayaka is too chicken to come to class anymore!”

“Aw man, the fun is over already?”

“I wanted to do something!”

Even Daiki joined in. “You know, next time you think of something, let me know!” They all laughed.

Yuto sighed. “Bullies are bullies wherever they go. Come on Chinen, let’s get our cards.”

Even though Ayaka did not participate in the class in the past, both Yuto and Chinen felt empty without her presence on the bleachers.

“You know Yuto,” Chinen hesitated, “Ayaka won’t do something as silly as…”

Yuto blinked. “Of course she wouldn’t! At least, she doesn’t seem to be the type that would…”

Daiki approached them. “What’s the matter? Worrying about that girl?” he smirked.

Yuto frowned. “Daiki, we know that you don’t like us, but Ayaka has never done anything to you. Why are you doing this?”

Daiki grinned. “It’s boring on this side. What better way to spend my days imprisoned in the non-gifted side than to stir up some commotion? I’d love to kill you guys sometime, but both of my hands are busy with the girls over there.” He waved at them and the girls squealed. He walked right beside Chinen and Yuto. “You guys better be warned. If you get any closer to that girl Ayaka, I’m sure the other girls won’t mind harming you guys as well – especially if I tell them to.” He laughed as he walked back to the crowd.

“That’s not going to scare us Daiki!” Yuto wanted to shout at him, but was he really not going to be scared?

=====

The next day, the class was shocked to find Ayaka in the classroom again. What was even more shocking is that she took Daiki’s desk and chair and moved it to her own spot.

“She can’t just do that!” Daiki pointed at her while talking to the girls.

Chinen tugged on Yuto. “Yuto, didn’t you say that we could move the desks within a classroom as long as we don’t take them out?” He spoke loudly enough so that Daiki would be able to hear them.

Yuto also exaggerated his voice. “Of course, Chinen. There’s nothing against the school rules if you just move the desks around.”

The two of them hurried to sit down so that the others would not take their desks.

“Don’t worry Daiki! We’ll bring you a desk!” The girls glanced at Ayaka and quickly went out to find an extra desk.

Daiki approached Ayaka. “You think you’re all that clever, don’t you?”

And of course, Ayaka did not speak.

“I was thinking of letting the girls play around with you, but now it’s personal.” Daiki slapped his right hand onto the desk.

Ayaka looked up with her cold eyesight. Although she continued to be silent, everyone could understand what she meant by the stare.

The rush of girls sped into the classroom with a desk, and a few other things. They first placed the desk down so that Daiki could sit. Then, a girl, who had a bucket held in her hands, suddenly turned around and dumped the bucket of cold water onto Ayaka. The cold water spilled onto all her books and her notebook, and then it came rushing down to the floor.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be more careful with the water!” A girl teased. “That was for mopping the floor!”

“Well, look at the bright side! She’ll be prepared for the swimming lesson today!” Another girl laughed.

Ayaka let the cold water seep into her clothes. She sat there, staring right at the floor. Yuto immediately took off his school blazer and placed it on Ayaka’s shoulders. Chinen grabbed some tissues and helped remove some of the water off her books.

Yuto shouted at the girls. “You guys should stop bullying her! This has gone too far!”

A girl spoke. “Hey, it was an accident. We’ve already said that.”

Chinen joined in. “This couldn’t have been an accident! We saw you lift the bucket high enough for you to dump it on Ayaka.”

“Why are you two helping her anyway?” Daiki frowned. His enjoyment was being interrupted by them.

“Because we’re her friends!” Yuto announced and Chinen nodded. “We don’t care what you’ll do to us, but friends protect each other.”

Ayaka clenched her fists and stood up. She walked out of the classroom again.

Chinen looked at where Ayaka’s seat was and poked Yuto. “How can water be that cold?”

Ayaka’s seat and the ground underneath it were covered in a thin layer of ice.

=====

During the special swimming lesson, the girls wanted to play water polo with Daiki, but Daiki hesitated to go into the water.

“These gloves which restrict my element are too heavy in the water. Oh, and they’ll rust,” was Daiki’s excuse.

“Alright then.” The girls were disappointed, but respected Daiki’s words.

Daiki sat on the side bench and stared at the water. I can’t just tell them that without my element, I can’t swim. That would be too embarrassing to say.

In the middle of the lesson, Ayaka popped back in to the class. She was not wearing a swim suit, but she was still in her wet uniform. As she passed Daiki, she did not even take the time to glare at him. She just walked straight across to the end of the swimming pool. In her hand was her soaking notebook that she carries with her everywhere.

When the girls were playing water polo, the always manage to “accidentally” hit Ayaka with the ball. This continued for the rest of the lesson until the teacher came in to call them out for the next lesson.

As Daiki left the bench, Ayaka noticed that he had forgotten to take his bag with him, but she did not say a word about it. Instead, she opened up her soggy notebook and flipped through a couple of the sheets. When she reached a blank paper, she took out her pen and slowly wrote on it. Wet paper was much harder to write on than dry paper.

=====

Daiki was still grumpy that he could not go into the water after the lesson. However, it was not until late at night did he remember that he left his bag by the pool side where he sat before.

“Would the pool be closed by now?” Daiki talked to himself. He opened the gym doors and went straight to the pool. To his relief, the pool doors were still unlocked. He rushed over to his bag and checked the insides to make sure that nothing was stolen. However, he noticed that there was a note inside.

“Liar?” Daiki read it out loud. “Who would say that? What did I lie about over on this side?”

Just then, the lights all turned off and Daiki heard a clicking noise.

“Oh no…” Daiki grabbed his bag and made a run for the door. It was hard to see, as the feint emergency lights were the only kind of lights that were still on. He tried pulling and pushing, but the door was locked.

“What am I going to do here?” Daiki sighed. “I guess I’ll have to wait until morning…”

He looked around and could hear the buzz coming from the vents. He could also hear…scribbling.

“Is someone there?” Daiki shouted.

The scribbling stopped and a small thud of a closing book was heard. He then heard footsteps.

“I-I’m warning you, I’m an elemental user!” Daiki trembled. “I-I can control ice.” He tried to pull off the locked gloves, but they would not come off.

A figure emerged from the shadows. It was Ayaka with her notebook. For each step she took, the pool water began to splash more violently.

“Liar.” She whispered.