After lunch something still gnawed at me.
I hadn't seen Shion since Azuki pissed her off, and that wasn't like her. I told myself she was just sulking somewhere, but the longer I couldn't find her, the more it felt like I should know where she was.
I remembered yesterday, when she disappeared, only to pop up draining the life from Inego.
Yuki hovered beside me, arms crossed, her usual calm laced with disapproval.
"I know he's your friend, but I think you're making a mistake. You should've asked Hibana," she said. "You know you can't rely on Inego to fix your problems."
I knew she was right. Especially after what Inego said about magic not being able to fix my problems. But right now I didn't want to hear it.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, because Hibana would've been so helpful."
"She would've been more helpful though. Inego told you that you can't use magic to solve problems. At least Hibana's training would've made you stronger."
I sighed. The worst part was knowing Yuki was right. I just didn't want to ask Hibana for a favor.
That was when I spotted Inego, leaning against the lockers like he had all the time in the world.
"Speak of the devil," I muttered.
I walked up to him, cutting to the chase. "Be real with me, Inego—would magic be useful against Ken? Would it be any good at all? You said it's a tool. I'm trying to use it like one."
For a moment, he just stared at me, like I had personally offended him. Then, slowly, dramatically, he dragged a hand down his face.
"Mate," he sighed, "I've tried to explain this. I swear to God, you don't understand magic at all."
"That's why I'm asking."
"Right, well," he straightened up, looking serious. "I suppose the flash-powder didn't work. Okay. You wanna see how magic works?"
I hesitated. Whenever Inego got that look in his eyes, things usually went sideways. "Yeah?"
A cheeky, dimpled grin spread across his face. "Good answer. Let's dance." He clapped his hands together.
Then, from his pocket, he pulled out a pair of AirPods.
I frowned. No. Not AirPods. These things… looked like the Toxic Avenger swallowed a pair of AirPods, chased them with mutagen, and crapped them back out.
Something about his AirPods made my skin crawl. The casing had this organic texture, like waxy flesh that had been hardened and shaped. Worse, when Inego held them up, they pulsed—a faint, sickly yellow-green glow radiating from the tiny things.
He didn't connect them to anything.
"…Bluetooth?" I asked, already regretting it. "And where'd you even get those? Does Cronenberg have an Apple store?"
Inego laughed. "Mate, you think I got these from an Apple store? I'm tuning in to the rhythms of the universe."
Then, before I could stop him, he shoved the damn things into his ears.
Horror scenes from Star Trek played in my head. I recoiled. "Ugh. God. That's disgusting."
Inego ignored me. He stood completely still, eyes closed, head tilted slightly like he was listening to something just beyond human perception.
Then… he nodded his head.
I saw other students stop and watch him.
A flurry of whispers ran through the hallway and people began to make room around Inego.
He still ignored them. He was nodding his head. Then…
Tapping his fingers.
And his foot.
Then, suddenly, he was moving.
At first, it was just a slow groove, subtle. But then his movements became precise. Sharp. His footwork effortless, the kind of thing that looked like a casual sway but was perfectly timed with something I couldn't hear.
Except… I could hear it. And I wasn't alone. All around me and the other students, a rhythm pulsed in the air.
A bassline hummed in my bones.
And as I watched, the entire hallway shifted.
Inego, me, the students in the hallway around us, we all felt it.
We were waiting. Inego was leading. We were ready.
The lockers dimmed behind him. Spotlights flared on the ceiling. Neon colors exploded out of the hallway's fluorescent lights. Strobes flashed all around us. Fog poured from the open classrooms.
In the center of it all, Inego twirled his wand in his hand like a microphone, grinned like a showman, and then—
He stamped his foot down.
And sang.
I felt it. The moment his foot hit the floor, reality snapped into place—like I had just stepped into a full-blown musical number.
"Slip inside the eye of your mind—"
Inego didn't stop. He leaned into it, his voice smooth, his body moving with perfect rhythm. The floor seemed to shift under his feet, responding to his dance. He was **casting a spell—**and the spell was the music.
By god, this was a spell. The entire hallway felt it.
And then—
A new voice cut through the air.
Sharp. Focused. A counter-song.
"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony that's life—"
I turned just in time to see Hibana.
She strode into the spotlight like she had been waiting for this exact moment. Books floating in a circle around her as she twirled her arms in time with the music.
But her expression was ready to kill.
She held her wand like a mic, brilliantly singing counterpoint Britpop, reflecting Inego's spell back at him.
She didn't stop walking.
Instead, she twirled.
Her long ponytail swirling in a beautiful arc, accenting her flawless spin.
The books scattered through the air—but not a single one fell. They hovered, spinning in perfect, weightless motion.
The second her foot touched the ground again, Inego's rhythm stumbled.
Inego, to his credit, recovered fast. He grinned. He leaned into his song, adjusting his tempo—but Hibana was already in control.
The entire hallway became a battleground of rhythm.
In my entire life, I'd never imagined that magic, music, and performance could be used to warp reality.
I could see it. All of us could feel it.
The way Inego's spell tried to pull us in, tried to make us feel the beat. Hibana's own electric presence disrupted it, twisting the melody, shifting the flow around her.
This wasn't just a dance battle. This was a full-scale magical argument. Hibana's energy was pulling the electricity from Inego's performance.
Slowly the strobes stopped. The neon colors faded to pale, then nothing. Inego's song died.
Then, without missing a beat, Hibana turned to face me.
She pointed an accusing finger at my chest.
"Baka! I should've known that you'd be this idiot's friend!"
Inego looked from Hibana back to me.
"You know her?" he asked, alarmed.
Hibana turned to face him. "I wish I didn't! I only have to live with this idiot trying to fix thing at the onsen. I'm surprised he hasn't burned the place down. Oh my god, of course he's your friend. Ugh. As if this day couldn't get any worse."
She stopped pointing at me and pointed at Inego.
"Stop trying to show off with your stupid spells! Save your energy for when you've actually got to use it for something, stupid. You act like you're as dumb as Dragon-ass over there."
Inego stood up and casually shrugged, as if he wasn't getting chewed out.
Hibana straightened, dusting off her uniform. "I can't say I'm surprised, baka," she said, eyes flicking to me. "Of course you'd have an idiot for a friend."
Inego tucked his shirt back in. "Oi! There was a point to all of this, you know."
Hibana just scoffed.
I exhaled, dragging my hand down my face. "Jesus Christ. I just wanted to know if magic would help me in a fight."
"Then let me make it simple," Hibana said, crossing her arms.
She glanced at Inego—who was still recovering from his failed magical musical number—then back at me.
"You wanted to find an easy way out of something," she said flatly. "Instead of working to get the answer yourself, right? Is that what you were doing? Something quick and easy, huh?"
She tilted her head, eyes sharp. "Tell me, Ryu. How close to the mark am I? You done yet? You tired of being stupid, or do you need some more time bashing your head into a wall?"
Inego groaned. "Ugh. Dramatic."
Hibana shook her head. "I'm sick and tired of protecting your dumb asses! None of you get it!"
She looked at me. Then at Yuki.
"The fact that you think you're trying to help makes you the biggest idiot I know, Ryu."
The worst part was she didn't call me a baka. She wasn't even yelling. It was the first thing she said to me that sounded like she genuinely cared.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was my life now.