01

  September 2 Tuesday 1999

  Three

  The cafeteria, especially in the morning, gets surprisingly busy. To the point where there’s already a long line that’s almost reaching to the door.

  I turned my eyes to my roommate and childhood friend Four, who is staring at me with malicious intent. Yes, since this is a chaotic morning, Four and I have to decide which one gets to fall in line and get the food and which one gets to find a seat. None of us really want to fall in line this morning so…

  I raised my fist. “Rock paper scissors?”

  “Best two out of three?”

  ‘No. Let’s make it more daring. A one round death match.

  “Heh.” He smirked. “You’re on.” Four also raised his fist.

  “Rock!”

  “Paper!”

  “Scissors!”

  In an instant, we showed our hands. I pulled out paper, and as for Four…he pulled out rock. Which means that it’s my victory.

  “Nooooooooo!” Four’s howl of defeat echoed through the cafeteria.

  “Hah! That’s what you for always choosing rock.”

  “Ugh. I’ll have my revenge one of these days.”

  “And I’ll be there waiting for you when that happens,” I said with an air of confidence.

  Four sighed. “Just tell me what you want.”

  “Anything with bread sounds good.”

  “Okay.” Looking defeated, Four joined the line.

  “Right.” Now that’s taken care of, it’s time for me to find a seat in here. Luckily, I found one just next to the door. I’m sure that if Four was the one who’s looking for a seat, all the seats would be taken just before he could save one for us. I took my place on the table. I guess the only thing I can do now is wait for the others.

  Speaking of others, I wonder what happened to One and Two? They went completely dark a while ago and I don’t know what happened to them. Though, I can guess they’re alright since this is One and Two we’re talking about. They always find a way to get out of a sticky situation.

  And speak of the devil, I just saw those two entering the cafeteria. I wave at them to let them know I’m here.

  One and Two noticed and sat with me on the table. “Where’s Four?” Two asked me.

  “He’s falling in line. I should tell him to get something for you guys too.” I sent a message to Four through my phone. He responded with a thumbs up.

  “He got the message. So…” I put the phone back in my pocket and turned my attention to the two nightcrawlers. “What happened yesterday? Did you see any ghosts?”

  Two kept silent. Her eyes seemed to be focused on something else.

  “Well…let’s just say that a lot happened,” One was the one who answered me. “If it’s okay with you. Can we save this discussion for lunch?”

  “…Hoi.” The way that One is talking is kind of scary. She’s normally serious but in the leader sort of way. The seriousness that One’s showing me right now is one where I think something terrible must have happened. “Something really did happen last night, huh?”

  One nodded. “Something that we can’t openly discuss here in the cafeteria.”

  “I see. It’s that bad, huh?” I wonder how bad they screwed up yesterday? “Don’t tell me you two got cursed?”

  “You know. I kind of wish that we got cursed instead.”

  “So, what happened to you guys is worse than a curse?!” Seriously, it almost made me glad that I didn’t come with you guys.

  “I’m back.” Four called to us as he carefully placed the tray unto the table. Somehow, he managed to avoid spilling them unto the floor but when I looked at Four’s face, I noticed that he has a funny look on his face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Four kept his silence as he started handing us food. For One, it’s appears to be a bowl of rice with fried eggs and sausages. As for Two, hers is also a rice bowl but that one has kimchi on top. As for mine…what the hell am I looking at?

  The…bread that Four gave me is unbelievably flat. Almost like a pizza dough. The reason why I would think that Four would give me this because this is the only bread available. “Oh! You got me pita. That’s nice.” When I said the word pita, Four looked away from me.

  “It’s actually a ham and egg sandwich,” he told me.

  I stared at the pita. I blinked once, and I blinked again. “Are you serious? What happened to it!”

  “You see…” Four scratched the back of his head. “When I tried to get our sandwiches, our bread was accidentally squished between two trays. I tried to salvage it, but it was no use.

  “I see.” Three took the pita and took bite out of it. Surprisingly, it’s still good. “It’s delicious.”

  “Really? I’m so glad.” With a sigh of relief. Four placed another plate on the table. This time, what he brought out appeared to be a pita just like mine. “I’m guessing that used to be a sandwich too?”

  He nodded. “It was a pickle and cheese sandwich.”

  “Oh.” Four placed a bowl of rice with sausages and egg on the table. That’s probably for Five.

  Four sat down on her seat and started munching on her sandwich, as she does so, she turned her eyes to One and Two. “So…” He started. “What happened last night?”

  “…No comment,” was all that Two said.

  02

  My first meeting with One and Two was as bad of a first impression as you can get. Because the first time we saw each other, I was beating the crap on a bunch of kids smaller than me.

  “Don’t bully the weak!” Was the first thing that One said to me as she tried to kick me. In their eyes, I was already the villain. It took a fight for us to understand the situation. I think the spark of our friendship was when we realize that we have numbers for names. Then, one thing led to another and me and Four ended joining a small group called Numbers, a group dedicated to protect the world from evil…at least, that’s what One said is the purpose of the group. But all we have been doing as the group called Numbers is play around like any other kids in the neighborhood.

  It made me wonder what you have happened if I haven’t done that. Would I have met those two through different means or would we remain strangers? It’s…kind of scary thinking about it. My life changed a lot after meeting those two and Four, to the point where I couldn’t imagine it.

  …Maybe it’s best to not think about it.

  The school bell rang, signaling everyone in the whole campus that it’s now lunch. As it does so, there was ring on my phone. I checked to see and I found out that it’s a message from One. She told us to grab something at the cafeteria and meet up at room 2-E, an unused classroom.

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  Such secrecy. Is it really that damning?

  After picking up a BLT sandwich from the canteen, we all gathered at room 2-E. The reason why this classroom is unused is because there aren’t that many 2nd year students this year. So, the Numbers used decided to this empty classroom as a sort of meeting room when we couldn’t use our own room.

  “Is everyone here?” One said as she said scanned all five of us in the room. A smile formed in her face. “Good. Everyone is here.”

  “Yup,” I said. “So now can you tell us what happened last night?”

  “You’re awfully curious for somebody who bailed out on joining us,” Two said, who’s suddenly appears to be very irritated.

  “It couldn’t be helped, Two,” the person who came to calm her down was none other than Four. “Three would normally be scared to ask you for details but the reason why he’s actually pushing to know is because he noticed how spook you all are.” Somehow, Four was able to put my thoughts into words. I’m glad he’s here to mediate.

  “I agree with Four,” Five said as munched unto a doughnut. “It’s weird seeing our leader so spooked.”

  “Right… that was the point of all of this, isn’t it?” She said with a nervous smile. “Alright. Brace yourselves everyone because what I’m about to say will make you fall from your seats.

  And so, One began to tell us a story. A story about the library, spirit, and the end of the world. As soon as she’s done telling us the story, One looked around as if she’s waiting for some sort of reaction from us.

  As I try wrap my head around the story she just told us, there’s truly only one thing that comes to mind for me. “Are you sure you’re not screwing with us?” I told them both.

  “Look, I know it’s incredibly unbelievable because even now, I still can’t wrap my head around it but I assure you that I’m telling the truth.”

  “Well, you have no reason to lie to us. And you guys have been out of it since this morning…”

  “…But it doesn’t change the fact that it sounds like something out of a cheesy urban fantasy novel,” Four gave his thoughts on the matter.

  “I think the only person who’s liking this sort of development is Five.” I turned everyone’s direction to Five who’s still eating her doughnuts. But her eyes are sparkling so much that one could easily mistake them as stars.

  Five, the youngest member of our little group, have always had a fascination with heroes. Mostly thanks to her gramma. I bet this super odd situation is running her imagination wild.

  “Well…” One scratched her chin. “Even if you don’t believe it, is it alright for you guys to go along with it?”

  “Going along with it…are you talking about the plan that Zero thing said? That by gathering eight friends that we would be able to save the world? But what friends are they talking about?”

  “Zero also mentioned that One is already doing a good job…” Four said. “I guess they’re referring to us.”

  “Which means that we only need to find four more people. Easy enough.”

  “Not exactly,” Two said. “I don’t think Zero is looking for any four people. I think they want us to find more people like us, those burdened by the name we were given. I think that’s what Zero meant that One did a good job.”

  “In other words, we need to find four people named Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine?”

  “Pretty much.” Two shrugged.

  I felt like slapping myself in the head. “It would be awfully convenient if we could find any more people with names like that.”

  “Actually…” Four snapped his finger. “There’s someone that might fit the bill.”

  It clicked in my head. I knew who he was talking about. I can’t believe I almost forgot about him. “You must be talking about Six.” He’s a 2nd year student sharing the same class with Four and Five, and just like us, he is named after a number. “Didn’t you try to recruit him last year?”

  “Yup. Didn’t turn out too well.” Almost like it was running gag within our group at this point but Four and Five made a bad first impression on Six during their first year of classes together. And unlike us where we eventually become friends, it never did work out for them. Though I guess it has something to do with us being in high school now.

  “Yeah, but that was a year ago,” One said. “You guys have seen different facets of each other at this point so it wouldn’t hurt to try again.”

  “Don’t try to push him if he doesn’t want to,” Two added her thoughts.

  “But who’ll be making the first move?” I ask Four and Five.

  “Not me.”

  “ME!”

  Two different answers ring out at the same time. The one who declined was Four, and the one who accepted the task was Five.

  “Can you do it?” I ask her.

  “I don’t know!” She said with an air of confidence. “But recruiting allies is what a hero does, so I’m going to do my best!” Five raised her fist up in the air. This whole situation got Five in a good mood. I wonder if she realized the world is at stake? Eh, even I don’t believe it myself. I’m going along with this because it’s something bothering our leader.

  I can hear Two sigh.

  “Don’t worry.” One placed her hand on Two’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’ll do just fine.”

  “That’s not what I’m worried about but…well, maybe you’re right. I shouldn’t be too worried about Five.”

  “So, if Five is in charge of recruiting Six, what about us?” I asked One.

  “Naturally, we go look for Seven, Eight, and Nine. The spirit is certain that people like us are staying in this school so we should look around and see what we can find when we have the time,” One said.

  “There’s really nothing we can do other than that, huh?” Two said

  “The slow and steady approach. Our usual style. I’m not sure if we should go for it since we have only a month but let’s go with that for now,” I said.

  “I’ll try asking my classmates if they know anyone,” Four said.

  “And I’ll do my best.” Five jumped up from her seat.

  “Alright.” One got up from her seat. “Now that we got everything out of the way. I hereby declare this meeting adjourned.”

  03

  It’s free study right now in our classroom. Which usually means that now is the best time to slack off or the best time to study. Since we have a quiz tomorrow, I decided to put in the work so that I won’t be sent to the faculty office again. But…

  I’m getting thirsty…

  So I walk out of the classroom and decided to make my way to the cafeteria where the vending machine is.

  As I step out of the main school building, I noticed a strange sight. One of the school’s trash can appeared to have legs sprouting on top of it. The legs moved and squirmed like they’re trying to break free from their egg.

  “…Oh!” It took me five seconds to realize that someone was stuck on the trash can. I rushed to the trash can and pulled them out by grabbing them by the leg. Who I found when I pulled them out was…

  “Four?” I dropped him on the ground. There was a soft ‘oof’ that came out of his lips when it happened.

  “Hey there, Three. Thanks for freeing me.”

  “What were you doing over there? Did someone dump you in the trash can? Mind telling me who it is?”

  Since Four appeared to be carrying something in his hands, he responded to my words by shaking his head violently. “No, don’t worry. Nobody dumped me. I just tripped and fell into the trash can.”

  “I see…” I turned my eyes to the trash can. Surprisingly, the trash can is empty.

  “I was lucky someone threw the trash can before I fell, that would have been a disaster.”

  “Yeah…” I also noticed that Four is holding something in his hands. They appear to be flyers. “What are those?” I asked him.

  “These?” He took a flyer out and offered it to me. “Here you go.”

  I took the flyer and read it. It’s a flyer for the Autumn Festival. “Right. Your class is up to something for the festival.” The Autumn Festival is a holiday that occurs at September 15. It’s a festival made to celebrate the start of autumn. On that day, there are no work and no classes but our school would usually start special events on that day. Last year was a restaurant that me and the rest of the class ran. I don’t know what’s going on this year but I just pray that it doesn’t turn a disaster like what happened with ours. “So I see you’re going around putting these all over school?”

  “Yup.” He nodded.

  “Did anyone force your hand into doing this?” I asked him.

  Four sighed. “No, Three. I’m doing this because I want to, alright?”

  If he’s sighing like that then I guess it’s alright?

  “In any case, I need to put some of these on the cafeteria.”

  “Oh! What a coincidence. I’m heading their too.”

  “…Are you saying that because you wanted to get something from the cafeteria or is it because I’m heading over there?”

  “Obviously, it’s because I wanted to get something to drink,” I told my suspicious roommate.

  “Alright. Let’s go then.”

  With those words, the two of us went to the cafeteria. Once we’re inside, we split to two different directions. Four went to the bulletin board while I went to the vending machine. I got a can of black coffee from the vending machine. “Wonder what’s he doing right now?” I turned my eyes to the bulletin board…and I found him staring at it. He didn’t even bother to put the flyer, even. Just what is he looking at?

  I decided to walk over to the bulletin board. “Hey, Four. What’s up? You’ve been staring at the bulletin board for a while now.”

  “Three. I think you need to see this,” Four pointed his finger at the bullet board.

  I turn to see what he’s pointing at. It appears to be a piece of paper. It reads; “Numbers. I’m challenging you to a game. If you’re interested, come to the gym at 7. From…Zero.”

  “Zero…”

  “What the heck is this about…” Four said. “I swear I didn’t see that before.”

  “Either this is some sick-twisted prank, or One is actually telling us the gosh-darn truth.”