It was break time. The classes were alright so far. It was quiet and boring as always.
Well, I didn't make any friends.
'Not my fault. I tried this time.'
The girl sitting on my left desk was busy with her makeup or was chatting with her friends during the class breaks. It was hard to approach her.
And the silver-haired boy on my right... Well, how to explain him... Though it was not permitted to dye hair, his hair was dyed in silver, he was tall and skinny. All the time, during classes and breaks, he was reading some bizarre books (I couldn't understand the language). He didn't look at the teacher neither he listened to the lectures. Again, too hard to approach.
Thus, I was alone, wandering around, looking for the canteen. 'That human, Iyan, so precious, so eligible, but couldn't make a lunch box for me. Am I supposed to starve now?' I crossed another block by then.
'Should I ask someone? I should have just followed those girls.' Earlier, in the class, some girls came to me. They might have thought that it would be fun to talk with me. But to their disappointment, I only nodded and smiled. So they got bored and left. Well, it was... my fault... I guess.
"Plink"
"Plink"
"Plink..."
A mellow piano sound was coming from the music room. 'Für Elise. Beethoven's masterpiece.' The sound was pleasant to hear, though the pianist missed a few notes and added some bizarre ones. I followed the sound without thinking much. The person sitting in front of the piano played his last note.
"Sigh..."
'What a loud sigh' I stood leaning on the door.
I couldn't see the person's face. But it was clear that the person was a boy. There was a window beside the piano. Rays were coming through that. The pianist's silver hair shined under the sun. He was sitting with his head lowered and his hands were lightly touching the keys, making no sound. After a while, he lifted his head.
"Eh, silver head?" I exclaimed.
My weird neighbor was startled. He looked at me. In the next moment, he jumped up exclaiming, "Master...!"
"Eh, me? your master?" I pointed at myself.
"Master, you are finally here..." He stepped forward.
'Does he have some problem in his head?' I couldn't make any explanation out of his reaction. 'I mean, I was sitting right beside you and you didn't even notice. Now you are calling me master?'
"Master Iyan told me that you are coming. But I didn't expect to see you this early. Which class are you in?"
A sixteen years old (probably) was jumping up n down with excitement, asking some weird question... How should I explain that?
'And I know I wasn't very handsome or unique, yet I am noticeable enough. Others always praise me for my beauty (though in a feminine way... those annoying bullies). And if I am the master, shouldn't you notice me when I was this close? And it's not like you don't know my face?'
I looked at him, "I arrived yesterday. I am in your class and I sit next to you. How am I your master? I never saw you, so you shouldn't know about me. And why are you calling Iyan master too?"
My cold gaze stopped him from jumping. He made a serious face.
"Sorry master, I didn't notice you. You see, they gave me a huge task. I need to memorize a lot and make the net. So, I kept reading books. And as for how you are our master... you are the one we suppose to serve. And master Iyan is our leader."
"Eh... you are serving me?"
"Yes, master." He said, dumbfounded. "Didn't master Iyan tell you?"
"Iyan didn't tell me anything. Maybe there wasn't enough time. He returned this morning and we barely talked." I looked at the floor. "I don't know what all this is about. I don't know what you are serving me for. I don't know who you guys are. Nothing makes sense. I mean you guys even know my face when I just arrived yesterday."
"I am Jebat. We are an organization. The name is Zed-3. We help police with cases. So, ordinary people think of us as a private detective agency. But our main work is sorcery... ah, I mean solving paranormal activities. Our motto is to maintain a balance and prevent people from getting into trouble. For now, our main focus is you. As I told you before, Iyan is our new master."
"Sorcery... sorcerer... haha... ha ha ha... so lame. You think I will believe you. You sound like some con man." I laughed.
"But we are not a fraud. Our members have some sort of special abilities. We can prove it if you want to." he said with a stern face.
"Yeah, I believe you." I kept laughing.
"Master, in the class, when you were sitting beside me what did you see?" He became more serious.
I stopped laughing, "Well, you were reading some bizarre books... three or four maybe..." I knitted my eyebrows seeing his eyes becoming larger as I talked. "...you were switching from one book to another from time to time."
His jaw dropped from hearing that. He exclaimed with a shrunk voice, "How come? I.. I... I did make a holograph of me sitting. You couldn't have...." Suddenly he paused.
"No wonder! You have that oath in you, that given superiority... My tricks won't work on you."
I was puzzled. "So, you are saying that you did some camouflage during class?"
"Yes, teachers and other students only saw me look at the teacher and write my notes." He exited the music room. I followed him. "Let me give you an example." He smiled and walked to the lounge where a bunch of students were sitting. He stood there for a while and murmured something. Then He did a handstand and told me to go to a student and ask what they see. I went to a group and asked what they see.
"What am I seeing? That boy is standing still." A girl answered.
"Yes," the others also agreed. "You can see it yourself, can't you? Why are you asking us?"
'Yes, I can clearly see that Jebat is standing on both hands. You stupids.' I thought.
No doubt I was surprised to my wit's end. Suddenly I remembered what I witnessed last night and this morning. Some strange things happened till I arrived here.
I walked towards Jebat. "I believe you... you can do camouflage or whatever... You don't need to do this anymore." I said, somewhat confused. "How did you do that?"
He changed his position, a satisfying smile on his face. "Its appearance is similar to a holographic image. I take an image from an earlier time and project it through mirrors or glasses later. The more glasses in a room, the stronger the hologram. As you know, our class has several glasses windows. And I also carry some mirror with me." He happily explained. "My ability doesn't work on people who have great concentration or are stronger than me. And it has its limitation."
"That means I am stronger than you?" I asked.
"Not yet."
"What do you..." I felt a growl in my stomach.
"Ah, break time is almost over," Jebat said.
"Ding-dong," the bell rang before he could even finish his word. The break was over. I couldn't eat anything and I am hungry. How am I supposed to study on an empty stomach?
"Here," Jebat handed me a cream bread. "Master must be hungry. I am sorry, I didn't notice. I only have this with me."
I looked at the bread. He gave me the only food he had. I peeled the cover and divided it. But Jebat refused to take it. "I will do with this chocolate." He smiled. We headed to the classroom.
"Your song was good." I tried to compliment him. We were walking side by side.
"Ah!! It was not good at all. I made a lot of mistakes." Jebat said with a shameful smile. "I am not good at all."
"Beethoven's Für Elise is quite a difficult song. It's understandable that you miss a few notes."
Hearing my words, Jebat looked at me, "It wasn't 'für Elise. It was a song for exorcism. Oh! you must not have heard the hidden notes. It's my bad that it sounded more like für Elise." He sounded a bit sad. I felt bad for him.
"Oh, the teacher is here." students rushed to the classroom. My stomach still felt empty. 'I guess I have no choice.' Feeling bitter, I entered the classroom.
It was 2:40 pm. The school was over. I was waiting at the exit.
"Grandpa or Iyan will go to receive you, so wait at the exit." This was what my grandpa said to me. But I saw no one. So, I decided to wait.
"Master Dean..." Jebat rushed toward me. I didn't know where he went after the class was over. When the bell rang, he just ran. And he was still running.
"What is it, Jebat? And please don't call me master in the school. People are noticing." I asked.
"Master Iyan or grandpa isn't coming. Master Iyan told me to go with you." He said, panting.
"How do you know?"
Jebat swung his android.
"Isn't it forbidden?"
"I've got permission." He grinned with closed eyes.
"What are we going to ride? Is there any car or are we gonna take the bus?" I looked around.
"Come with me."
We walked to the parking lot. Jebat crossed the cars. And finally, we were in front of some bicycles.
"I can't ride a bike." I panicked.
"It's okay. I'll ride. You can just sit in the back." He walked towards a utility bike.
"Seriously?!!" I said helplessly.
"It's not that bad. After all, the countryside looks more beautiful from a backseat." He signaled me to get in.
Sighing, I sat. "You know the road well, right?"
"Yes," he handed me a helmet. "Rest assured."
"How about you? Won't you be in trouble if you don't return timely?"
"It's not so far from your house. And my parents approved me. So, it's okay." He started to ride.
We reached the mountain within less than one hour. Jebat took a shortcut. On our way, we bought two popsicles ( It's not something one should eat on an empty stomach... but whatever). And as Jebat said, the ride was quite pleasant.
The mountain road was really quiet. There was some rustling in the bushes beside the road from time to time. The sun was still up high. The smell of grasses and some unknown wildflowers made the scenery more pleasant. I was trying my best to not weigh much ( Impossible), worrying that I was tiring the boy out.
"Jebat, you didn't concentrate in class at all. At this rate, won't your grades be bad? And earlier, you told me about making some net. What was that about?" I tried to hold a conversation.
"Ah, a net is made of so many knots. We need to chant spells while making the knots to make them magically usable. Earlier, in the class, I was memorizing some new spells. And master Iyan is quite good at teaching. He teaches me sometimes," he said. "Master, are you worried about me?"
"It's not that I am worried," I murmured.
"I am happy." He smiled.
"Anyway, where did Iyan go?" I changed the topic.
"There was a suicide downtown. A so-called and renowned 'shaman' of that area committed suicide by slitting his throat yesterday. At first, police disclosed the case calling it a suicide because of extreme poverty. But the scene was really terrifying. One's face cannot get that distorted from the pain of slitting. So, the police reopened the case and asked master Iyan to go." He answered.
We reached the main gate. I hopped off the cycle. Jebat dragged it to the house.
"You know a lot," I said.
"Well, it was posted in the local news portal. And I talked with the master earlier. He told me to look after you."
"Oh!!"
I belled the ring and granny opened the door.
"Jebat, my good boy, it's been so long since I saw you." Granny welcomed us. She told us to put our bags aside. "Wash up and sit down. I will fetch something to eat. By the way, you guys didn't have lunch, right? Just give me a few minutes."
We sat down in the living room. "I am so tired." I leaned back.
"Master, you seem good at math," Jebat said.
"Didn't I tell you to not call me master?" I gave him a scorching look.
"Oh... sorry, mas... um..." He stopped talking. We sat there till granny called us to the dining.
"When is grandpa returning?" I asked granny.
"Maybe by evening. Iyan will return by then too." Granny was sitting in a chair. "It's a good thing that Jebat came along. You guys can study...."
"Thud"
She couldn't finish the sentence as the door opened loudly. Iyan holding a big white cat entered the hall. His whole body was covered in blood. But it didn't seem he was hurt.
"Dairy," granny shouted.
Dairy!!! Sure, it was!!!