"I told you she wouldn't be able to handle it!"
"She's fine, she's fine! Look, she's breathing, isn't that enough?"
"Not when she passes out and hits her head on a rock!"
"Will you two stop bickering?"
Yuriko was not quite positive of the situation at hand. Her mind was throbbing, like someone shoved her brain and pebbles into a blender and decided to mix it up. She groaned, tried to move, only to feel a heavy weight on top of her. Attempting to open her eyes, a bright light was at the right, along with shadows moving somewhere over there. The only thing on her left was a wall.
She looked down, seeing heaps of covers over top of her. Wrenching her left arm free, she delicately touched her forehead, trying to look around. She could hear thoughts again, but only those who were in the room, and not an excessive amount of them. Letting out a breath, she turned to look around to the right, the left only giving her view of a wall.
"Jayce?" Yuriko mumbled as she recognised his tone, her own voice sounding as if she needed water badly.
"She's awake!" She heard someone say excitedly, one of the shadows coming forward.
"Slow down, Jayce," An older sounding person said, and she could only assume it was Matsuda. "She needs space. And something to drink…"
The shadow stopped, continuing to pace in a worried fit next to the bed a few metres away. A hand was placed on Yuriko's shoulder, a glass produced in front of her as a voice soothed her and urged her to slightly sit up. At any other time, she would have denied it and refused to do any such thing, but she was aggravatingly dehydrated.
She slowly rose, hand coming from her forehead to press against the glass as she gingerly drank. It seemed fresh, devoid of any mineral taste, as if from a spring. Falling back against the pillow, she groaned, closing her eyes again. She panted heavily after the long drink, swallowing hard. Touching her head again, she didn't open her eyes as she spoke.
"What happened?"
"Well," Matsuda began. "In a basic sense, we opened your eyes, but you snapped and closed them again."
"What?" Yuriko spoke, glancing over at him with one eye open. "Nevermind. Can we get these blankets off me now?"
"Of course," He started pulling them back one by one. She counted at least seven. "Jayce sort of freaked out and piled everything we had on you."
"It's freezing outside," Jayce defended himself.
"Yeah, outside," A supposed Mystic hissed.
"It can get really cold in here!"
"So you prepared her by making her a thousand degrees?"
Yuriko ignored them both as she started to sit up, rubbing her eyes as she looked around. She was not in the classroom, nor at her home. Someone else's house? Wait, then why was Jayce wearing shoes? She looked at her own feet, seeing the black slippers no longer there. Finding them on the side of the bed, she was not sure if she should put them on or not. So, unsure what else to ask, she proceeded with her next question.
"Why are you wearing shoes?" Her eyes raised to Jayce as she looked at his feet beforehand.
He looked down at his slippers, then back up – but it was Mystic who answered. "He panicked and decided they didn't need to come off."
"Rather disrespectful, don't you think?" Yuriko seethed.
Jayce shrugged, looking away sheepishly and frowning. Yuriko could hear his thoughts – something about wondering if he should apologise, but there was an underline of concern and worry that made her curious. Why did he seem so fretful over… her, specifically? She brushed it off, shaking her head and raising her eyes to the door.
"Alright," She muttered. "Where am I?"
"We're with, as you could say, a fellow book club member," Matsuda chimed in, handing her the glass of water she drank from earlier.
"And where is that?"
"Nowhere," Jayce spoke.
"Everywhere," Mystic said at the same time.
"It's on the shore that you might have seen before you passed out," Matsuda explained.
"And how did we get here?" Yuriko asked.
"Well, we teleported." When she gave him a strange look, he explained. "Moved from one location to another instantly. Except we are not on the same plane of existence as before. See, I call it Plane Shifting."
"Plane… Shifting." She repeated slowly.
"Yes." Matsuda nodded. "Rather easy concept to comprehend, in my opinion. We were at the school, now we are not."
She squinted at him. "Alright. And who might this extra book club member be that you speak of?"
Alas, before their conversation could continue, a door opened off inside the house. It sounded more like hinges squeaking instead of something sliding, which confused her. Footsteps entered the threshold, then the door closed again before the person went on. The thoughts which entered Yuriko's head could only convince her it was the Icelandic boy, Vinhatri.
"What is he doing?" She questioned.
"Who?" Mystic returned the inquiry with one of her own.
Yuriko cast an annoyed glare at the girl, then stood up. She felt better – good enough to walk on her own, at the very least. Picking up her slippers for school, she held them dangling by two fingers before stepping towards the door. Maybe that Icelandic boy had something more to tell her about this strange place that seemed to only get stranger by the second.
"Eh, wait!" Jayce called out. "I don't think you should-"
As he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, though, she snapped. Gritting her teeth, Yuriko reactively grabbed his hand, and she spun around completely until her back was against his chest. Then, she reached up and grabbed his upper arm, hearing a sharp gasp from him as she proceeded to flip him over her head. He went flying across the room, slamming into the wall and landing upside down.
He stared at her in shock, Mystic sitting up from her relaxed position with her mouth hanging open, gawking. Yuriko didn't even glance at him as she continued forward, her heart pounding. Just like on the rooftop, her first day at school, she had done all that with one hand. The teacher simply rubbed his forehead with a sigh, shaking his head.
Yuriko looked at the door – it wasn't a slide open door, but instead one with hinges. She grabbed the knob and pushed it open. Beyond, she saw a short hallway that led to a kitchen where someone seemed to be rustling about. She set herself in confidence and walked onward, socked feet silent on the floorboards of the cabin. Turning the corner to see the kitchen fully, her assumptions were proven correct – there was Vinhatri, rummaging through a cabinet that had American toaster pastries lined across each shelf.
As he turned around, he almost dropped the one he had in his hands when he saw her, gasping softly. "Oh," He hummed, biting his lip. "Hey. You're… awake."
"Yes," She said simply.
"Well, good morning. Or, evening. Is it evening? Time is a little strange here..." He smiled and went over to the other counter, popping in the two pastries into a toaster and starting it up. "Anyway, how do you feel?"
Yuriko failed to answer as she watched him, then looked away as he turned back to face her. She could hear Jayce getting up with Mystic's help. Onward she went, stepping up to the door and putting her shoes on the ground. Slipping them on and then standing back up fully, she reached for the door handle.
"Eh, wait-" Vinhatri came over to her, and she looked at him sharply in silent warning. He stopped and pointed to the rack, which had many coats upon it. "You should take one of those. It's cold out there."
Yuriko looked at the rack, then to the door. Was it really that cold? She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again. Reaching without looking, she grabbed a green camouflage coat and threw it over her shoulder. Then, she opened the door, ignoring the steps and voice in her head as Jayce came out into the kitchen.
It was, indeed, freezing. Like a winter breeze washing over her, she closed her eyes and shivered. Yuriko slipped on the coat and continued walking forward, crossing her arms to keep herself warmer. The place outside was as she had seen it before – a rocky shore with stone pedestals, benches, and chairs carved out of large rocks. The water went as far as the eye could see, and behind the cabin was a large mountain that there seemed to be no way around.
The oddest part was, there were two people sitting on the rocks near the water. A dual of females, who looked identical to each other except one piece – their hair. They had dark skin, almost pitch black, with pale blue eyes. One girl had dark hair, the other stark white. Their hair was fashioned with bangs and mostly down, except they had opposite buns on either side of their heads.
The weird part was, they were talking in a strange language that Yuriko didn't recognise. Which was weird, because a bilingual and intelligent person such as herself recognised almost every language. However, it was similar to what she heard Matsuda speak to get her in her mess at the time.
The door opened again behind her, and she sighed as she heard the voice speak in her head before the tone even pierced her ears. "Yuriko?"
"Don't call me that," She responded quickly.
"What?" Jayce asked.
"Do not call me Yuriko," She turned to face him. "We are not friends."
"Really?" He scratched behind his ear. "I thought we were."
"I just threw you at a wall," She said. "Friends do not throw friends at walls."
"Yeah, that kind've hurt," Jayce shrugged. "But it's fine, I don't care. Anyway, you shouldn't wander out here alone-"
"Who is this?"
A new voice came, and she was so distracted with Jayce that she hadn't realised there were new people right behind her. Jumping a little, she turned around to see the not-exactly-identical twins standing there. She was surprised to hear them speak Japanese, though with a strange accent she again failed to recognise.
"Oh," Jayce came up to stand next to her. "This is, uh, Y-"
"Romanov," She answered before he could spit out her name. "Yuriko Romanov."
"Yuriko?" The white haired one giggled, putting up a hand to cover her mouth. "How cute. May I call you Yuri?"
"No," She said.
"Awe," She pouted. "Why not?"
Yuriko didn't answer the question for a moment. Real reason was, she did not like connecting to people. "Who are you?" She asked.
"Flower," The girl chirped, then motioned to her companion. "This is Petal."
The black haired female smiled nervously, giving a bow in the Japanese custom. "Greetings, Romanov. May I call you by your first name?"
Yuriko took a deep breath. Why was everyone so obsessed with being her friend? She gave up. "I don't care," She said flatly, simply passing them by and walking towards the beach.
As she went on, she could hear Jayce speak to the two. "Sorry, she's not very… social."
"I can see that," Flower grumbled.
"It's okay," Petal spoke next. "Mystic was the same when she came to us…"
What was said next faded away as Yuriko went on to the place where she first saw when she came to the strange place she was now located in. Pedestals and benches, made from stone, sat around a little hole in the ground that was made for a small fire. She stopped in front of where she appeared before, staring at the spot before looking up to see the water flowing in and out. The wind blew a bit harder, and she hugged the coat tighter around her. It wasn't until she heard Jayce approaching, knowing who it was by his thoughts, that she stiffened as he stopped behind her.
"Are you going to flip me over your head again?" He asked.
"Only if you touch me," Yuriko answered.
Jayce was quiet for a moment. Then, "The others will be here soon."
"When am I going home?" She demanded, still not looking at him.
"Only a couple hours," He said.
"I have missed my train by now," Yuriko sighed.
"Oh, don't worry about that," Jayce came up beside her. "Time doesn't pass the same here. You'll be able to catch your ride."
She paused. "That does not make sense."
"I know," He responded.
(¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.-> 🖋 <-.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯)
It was about fifteen minutes, or what felt like fifteen minutes, before the others arrived. Mystic, Matsuda, Vinhatri, and the supposed twins Flower and Petal. They all sat on the benches or pedestals while Jayce and Yuriko stood – except Matsuda, who also remained on his feet in the middle of them all. He was holding a book; the same one from when he teleported them all there.
"Everyone," Matsuda called out to quiet their chatters. "I'd like to introduce our new student, Yuriko Romanov. Some of you already know her – and her ability. She has the power of telepathy. Romanov, would you mind sharing what all you can do with this?"
"Yes," She answered quickly.
Matsuda paused, then only smiled. "Romanov, you have nothing to be afraid of. This is for the benefit of us all. You cannot expect us to trust you when you do not trust us."
Yuriko stared at him for a long moment, then looked at Jayce. He gave a reassuring grin. With a sigh, she gazed at the ground. "For one, I have a range of ninety-one metres – unless I focus on someone specific that I already know. Second of all, I can reach into dreams and place whatever I please inside their head. I can even convince them to wake up. Something I call a deep delve I have already done," She glanced at Jayce. "Where I learn the past of someone's life. It requires skin contact." She looked up to Matsuda. "That is all."
The group was quiet for a moment. Then, Flower spoke up. "That is all?" She scoffed. "Darling, you are much more talented than, heh, any of us! Well, except me." She pressed her fingers against her chest and smirked.
"That's enough," Matsuda held out his hand. "We'll go around and properly introduce our abilities now. Jayce?"
The teenage boy adjusted his gloves. "I can feel other people's emotions – it's called empathy. I can also, if I try, affect their emotions, or tell if they're lying. Sometimes I can even make them fall asleep or, as Yuriko can, wake them up. That's… really it, for me." He gave a smile.
Matsuda nodded, then looked at Vinhatri. He nervously pulled down the sleeves of his sweater. "I can… Turn into animals. If I know the anatomy, at least. But I start to gain animalistic instincts if I stay in that form for too long."
Their sensei nodded again, turning to Mystic. She rolled her eyes, leaning back against the bench. "I can hold my breath and turn invisible, blah blah blah. I can do it for about two minutes."
Matsuda raised an eyebrow, but continued on anyway. He looked at Flower and Petal lastly, and Flower eagerly sat forward, looking at Yuriko. "We can separate two sides of a human." When Yuriko raised an eyebrow, she went on. "Inside every human, there are two sides – the dark, evil, wretched side, and the bright, good, sympathetic side. They can be separated – and that's exactly what we do."
Yuriko looked between the twins, narrowing her eyes in confusion. It didn't make sense, and as she was clearly not understanding, Petal put a hand on Flower's shoulder. "Take us, for example. We are not twins – we are simply opposites of the same person."