Both of them walked through the halls. Dirin tugged and adjusted his new clothes, which clearly didn't fit him as they sagged. He had to pull up his jeans constantly since he didn't have a belt, and his shirt was almost falling off.
He had the star of the person who knocked him out, so he and Vale were going to go check with a teacher to see who it was and report them. It was easier than doing their own research, especially since Dirin didn't have his phone.
He asked Vale how she found him, but she only said something about hearing a heartbeat in a closet and got curious.
That made him feel even worse for getting caught in a janitor's closet with almost no clothes on. They both were avoiding the gazes of the people they were walking past, with most of them being directed at him.
The closest class was painting. This was apparently the arts building, with it having things like pottery and poetry. He remembered how he had to study these things with a grimace.
He always knew that he wasn't talented in arts and crafts, but it wasn't until Falem did he realized his lack of talent extended to things beyond that as well.
The smell of paint was heavy as they stepped into the room and walked towards the teacher, who was a young blonde with an apron on and her hair tied back with a white cloth. It took them only a couple of sentences before she understood and took the badge.
"Do you need new clothes?" She asked as she scanned the badge and started to look through her attendance for whoever was asked.
His eyebrows rose a bit as he heard that. Was she able to draw clothes? He nodded slowly. Once she saw his nod, she started to paint onto the air.
Even Vale seemed a little surprised at this as she saw the clothes start form with each stroke. He even saw the material of each article of clothing form bit by bit, with each thread being painted at great speed.
It only took a bit before Dirin saw a one-to-one copy of his previous uniform. He stared at it in amazement. Vale's face was also amazed as she looked at the woman. "Can you draw instruments?"
The woman nodded, and Vale's eyes started to sparkle, but Dirin stopped her before she started to talk about whatever was going up in that head. He wanted to get justice for himself within the decade.
After a bit, they saw a picture of the guy. "He didn't look like that when I saw him."
"He can change appearances. That makes things difficult." Dirin nodded to Vale's words.
"It would be difficult if it were something you two were going to handle, but as the teacher, I'll notify the others. I've tracked Dirin's badge and sent it to all the other teachers with an explanation." The woman said as she started to paint again with her class.
Dirin looked at the activity on the screen and saw it was being updated every minute. "So, should I just pretend it doesn't matter now, or what?"
"You can go there and get your badge back. You'll be found for a statement as well. Be careful and stay near each other." They both left and headed towards the last spot they saw on the map.
Vale led the way since she was more familiar with the campus compared to him. She hummed a soft tune as they walked, and it made him calmer as they walked. The walk was brief, with them spotting Mr. Till, who was looking around with a stern expression.
When he looked over, he saw Dirin and tensed for a bit, but when he saw Vale, he calmed down a bit. He waved them over. "We've been looking for the person who looked like you, but they dropped the pin on a desk and left. We checked the cameras, and they still had your appearance. Then they walked into a class and practically vanished. One of the teachers is now investigating while being guarded."
They both nodded as they heard that. "What are you doing here then?"
"Watching. I'm looking for anything or anyone that seems out of place." Mr. Till said as he looked around.
"Once you find them, how will you make sure you don't lose them?" Vale started to look around as if she could help in the search as well.
"If I said it out loud, they could hear, and then that would make it useless. Just stay together and leave this to us."
They both decided to leave with Dirin following Vale since he had nothing else to do. He didn't have his phone to pass the time either, meaning whatever she did, he would have to find some form of entertainment with it.
Mr. Till saw them walk away with a neutral expression. He started to look around. His vision was filled with various colors around people, with some people having a stronger and more vibrant color, while others had dull, gray ones.
His eyes scanned the surroundings, watching for faces he's already seen and checking if their life energy was any different. It would be bad if they could change their life energy, but judging based on Ritchard's description, it was unlikely.
Then he noticed someone in the distance. He was a familiar student who started attending last year and had come to him for help multiple times. His life energy was dull compared to it's usual red and booming one.
Looking away, his own life energy split a sliver of itself and attached itself to him. He now had a constant pull in the direction of where he was. He tapped his wrist carefully twice as a signal for the headmaster, who was still in the sky, that someone was suspected.
Since it's the headmaster who is reporting it, they won't have a verified guess of who found them. Of course, that only works if there is more than one. If it is only one, then it just makes it even easier.
It didn't take long before he was notified with word from the headmaster that someone had been found. Everyone reacted to the message and kept their guard up.
It was going to be a long couple of days.