As Akira stared at the girl in front on her, her stomach dropped. Was this girl. who Akira had previously thought cute, really the one who would commit these murders. The thought sickened Akira. If that was true, then she had ate lunch with this murderer. Akira became woozy, and thoughts raced around her mind. Her heart rate began to spike before Hal spoke into her ear for her to calm down.

“A-a-are you ok? You don’t look to good.”

“Yeah... I’m fine...”

“A-a-are you sure? You seriously look sick, maybe you should go to the nurse.”

Akira forcibly calmed herself, and lowered her heart rate.

“Yeah, I’m really fine.”

“What was wrong?”

“I um... I-”

Akira thought for a moment, and came up with the best answer.

“I forgot my lunch today, and I’m super hungry.”

“Is that really it?”

“Yeah...”

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Akira.”

“I’m Akina, nice to meet you.”

Akina put her hand out, and Akira slowly reached out and shook it warily, with a fake, almost scared, smile. Akina talked to Akira about the lunch she had brought, and offered to share some.

“Sorry, I’ll have to pass. I’m... eating with a friend and he’s bringing me food.”

“Oh, ok. Guess I’ll see you around.”

Akina sat at a table nearby, and pulled out her large assortment of food. While she was doing this, Akira noticed something strange. Her shadow was facing the sun, something very impossible.

“Hey Hal.”

“Yes?”

“Know anything about a shadow facing the sun?”

“Why yes, I do in-fact have knowledge of shadows.”

“Tell me what you know. The magic you were detecting was from this girl, and her shadow is facing towards the sun, which is a big red flag.”

“Ah, it must be a shade.”

“A shade? Like the zombie dudes that suck the life out of people?”

“Well yes, but how do you even know that?”

“Read it in a book.”

A silence was left between the two for a moment.

“Shades are undead creatures that live in the shadows of beings, draining the life out of them. What you probably don’t know is that if the being in question is nearing the end of their life, the shade may be able to take over their body.”

“Does that mean that this girl might be dying?”

“It’s possible that the shade has been with her for years, and only now is she nearing her death.”

“So that means that she herself is not responsible for whatever the shade does after she gets taken over?”

“That would be a fair assumption.”

Akira let out a sigh of relief. Akina glanced over at her for a quick second before continuing to eat.

“So if we get rid of the shade before she gets taken over, then we won’t have a problem?”

“It is possible that we can get rid of the shade before its a problem, but theres a chance it could cause a problem for the one its sapping.”

“What do you mean?”

“Shades steal life without leaving a sign, like they’re slowly taking over your body without you knowing. If this girl is near her death, losing the shade would kill her without healing her with magic of sorts.”

“Can I use any sort of healing magic?”

“”Can I use any sort of healing magic?”. Ha! Of course you can! You can use basically every type of magic. I would, of course, have to help you at first, since you don’t know how to channel it yet. But yes, you can use healing magic.”

“Alright then, so how do we destroy this shade?”

“Shade’s have a weakness to radiant magic, or light magic. Try thinking of a flashlight in your hand.”

Akira closed her eyes, imagining a flashlight in her hand. She opened her eyes, and realized the palm of her hand was glowing slightly, so she quickly stopped focusing after realizing she could be seen.

“Okay, that’s pretty cool. So, anything I can imagine can be used as a form of magic?”

“Technically yes, however, it is somewhat limited, since you have just learned how to use it.”

Akira scuttled towards a corner of the school, and hid behind the corner.

“What are you-?”

Akira hand began materialize different forms of magic, ranging from fire, to ice, to electricity.

“How-?”

Akira hand quickly began to glow a bright red and green.

“We’ll save that one for later.”

Hal sighed.

“I guess you won’t need my help after all.”

Hal’s voice quickly dissipated, and Akira could hear someone coming around the corner. She quickly put her hands in her pockets, and popped a smile on her face. Around the corner came Clyde.

“I was looking for you.”

“Why’s... that?”

“Well after this morning, I just wanted to check on you. Wanna eat lunch together?”

“I actually forgot mine...”

“I thought so.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, you didn’t have it with you this morning.”

“Yeah... You got me there.”

Clyde reached into his bag and pulled out two value meals from a gas station.

“It’s not great, but I got two.”

Akira looked down, and a genuine smile crossed her face.

“Alright, let’s go.”