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Chimes raise the curtains on humble days,
Precious as a handful of gold dust.
As I enter class, I see Hackee with a bunch of girls. Why he's so popular is a mystery...
He looks at me, query-eyed, "Hey, when did you show up? You're so quiet and dull that I didn't even notice you. Even though we've—Hey, we've been friends since our freshman year, right? Anyway, don't sweat the fact that you're as boring as dirt. It's not like you can help it. I mean, anyone would seem boring and stupid when compared to me!"
Since I am friends with this guy, I suppose that he actually might be right here. It's a little early for so much abuse, but as it's Shinji Hackee, it can't be helped. His arrogance is almost palatable. I don't know what he's saying, but it makes all the girls squeal with joy.
Actually, let me rephrase... His popularity isn't so much mysterious as it is … unnatural.
"I was just doing a little math tutoring. This stuff is beyond easy … for me, anyway." Oh, I thought you were just being a haughty person, yet again.
"...Wait a sec." One of the girls is talking now. "Hey Hackee, isn't the answer to this question totally wrong in every way?" Let's see... The derivative of X squared is not in fact three.
"Wh-What in the...? I'm the one who solved that! There's no way it could be wrong!" Along with the traits of extreme pride comes the traits of refusing to be wrong.
"B-But... Look at this. Since when did two plus two equal five?" Wait, what? Oh I was looking at the wrong question.
"...I'd never make such a stupid mistake! It's all your fault! You're the idiots here, not me!" And he can't even give any warrants to his claims. Fun guy. As Shinji raises his voice, the girls all panic and run back to their desks. Well, there was only three of them anyways. He sighed, "I hate dealing with the proletariat. Especially when they think they're my equal. It's really pathetic that theses worms don't know their place. That's why I like you so much. Even though you're boring, you know not to steal my thunder. You're the ultimate sidekick." Shinji flashes me a smile. It's weird how I never take offense at the way he talks to me. By some strange twist of fate, Shinji Hackee and I are friends. How we became friends was... I can't quite remember how it happened...
I want to say we met in spring sometime... The bell for class rings as I try to recollect. And who should fly through the door but our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Merrill. She exhaled a relieved sigh. "I made it!" She takes a few steps forward, "Good morning, every—" And... Thud. Mrs. Merrill trips, falling painfully onto the floor. As she lands, her head strikes the corner of the platform at the front of the classroom. The classroom goes dead silent. Every student's attention is focused on the same thing.
"Again..." One of my classmates groan. "How does she manage to trip in the same place every time...?"
"Listen, you! This isn't the time to be making stupid jokes."
"You're right. She isn't moving. Did she get knocked out or something?" A few brace students get out of their seats and crowd around the still comatose Merrill. "Hey, Mrs. Merrill! Mrs. Merrill...? Um... Are you OK?"
"Ugh... Wha—?" Looks like she regained consciousness. "Huh? What's wrong, everyone? Hey, class is about to start, so get back to your seats, pronto!" Mrs. Merrill jumps to her feet as if nothing happened. It's almost as if the memory of her sudden and violent trip to the floor was totally erased. As this happens all the time, no one seems to notice or care enough to say anything.
...No one gives a thought to how odd it is for this to happen every single day.
It is past morning now, the scene playing out before me seems to never change from day to day. The same exact lessons. The exact same subject. The exact same content.
"Um, today we're going to study the biography of Dr. Polis, a talented politician who—"
Ash—I mean Mrs. Merrill is conducting class today the same way she does everyday. "You may not know, but when I was young, an unknown pathogen was the cause of a serious epidemic. In fact, oubreaks were common. But now most illnesses are cured using nanothingymajigs!" Obviously, she's talking about nanomachines. "And FYI, I'm still young. This will be on the test so be sure you don't forget it. I mean it." Her ensuing laughter stops short at her eyes, which seem deadly serious.
Just as everyone is about to call Merrill out—The bell signaling the end of class rings. "All right, that's all for today. Be sure to study hard tonight, and don't forget those important points I told you about." Righto.
The evening comes, and while today's class wasn't all that boring, it is a relief when the bell rings. As the bell signaling the end of the day sounds, students begin to break off into small groups.
"Thank god that's over. I was getting sick of all the busywork." Oh, is that you Shinji? I didn't notice you over the sound of my … boringness, I suppose. "Being a student sucks. The worst part of the whole deal is having to attend these stupid classes." He looks at me yet again, query-eyed. "You're still here...? That's unusual. You don't have any plans, like a date or something?" Asexuality, my dear friend; also, not the kind where I reproduce by myself. "Haha, I'm just messing with you! I know you're too big of nerd to ever get a date! I mean, you're going to your dork club—The journalism club, right...?" Oh, that's what my bad feeling was about. "Well, seeing as you're as boring as stale white bread, your life is exactly as it should be. You know exactly what your role in life is, and you stay there." I guess that is one of my strengths. "Well, catch you later! See you in class tomorrow!" Shinji walks out of the classroom, presumably to go home.
I look over to the desk where Shinji sits. Shinji's desk is disturbingly organized, a reflection of his obsessive-compulsive personality. I overhear a conversation near his desk.
"I hate wearing uniforms. I should've gone somewhere that lets you wear regular clothes." The student with a black uniform is obviously frustrated with his life.
"What? I'd kill to be able to wear the black uniform of the student council like you!" That's not very important. But I guess I did learn something; black uniformed students are a part of the student council.
I walk up to girl that is at the back of the classroom, I wonder what she's thinking. "I guess the Journalism Club's been busy. I mean, with all of the weird stuff happening..."
Weird … stuff?
"Recently, a lot of students have been getting hurt. Rumor is that there's a slasher on campus..." Whoa, that's pretty heavy. I don't like heavy conversations.
I'll just go over here and talk to this girl instead. "It seems kind of pathetic to just head straight home after school. I should join a club..." And you're just boring.
Well, someone is standing near my seat. I think he wants to talk to me, he also has a slightly more tan uniform than the other students. "Hey! The Editor in Chief of the Journalism Club was calling a general meeting. You'd better go." Are you in the club, too? Why don't I have a slightly tanner uniform?
I'll go, I'll go. But I'll just take my time to get to the meeting. I see that there's another student still sitting at his desk for no reason. "One of my desk's legs is shorter than the others and it keeps shifting around. ARGH! It's driving me insane!" Then just get up. You won't need to bother with it anymore if you just leave.
Hmm? I wonder why this lady here is standing in front of the chalkboard. I'll just see what's up with her. "Guys always bolt when it's time to clean. The lies they tell to get out of helping are pathetic." You know, I could help you with my normal yellow uniform, but I won't, because you're not an interesting enough person to get to swoon over me.
Well, that's about everyone in the classroom. I'll just go out into the hallway now. I should take a look at the other classes. At class 2-B, there are a lot of athletes here, so it's a little overwhelming. It's noisy, as usual. I'd rather not be noticed, so I better hightail it out of here.
Right next to it is class 2-C. Student Council President Turley is in class C, but he's not here now. He must be busy. I don't know anyone else here. I should probably leave.
Outside of the classrooms stands a classmate looking out of the window rather blankly. "I really wish I was dating Shinji's sister. She's that cute girl in the Nurse's Office." Is she the nurse? "And we'd get married and she'd feed me and I'd wake up to her everyday... Squee!" I don't know what's more frightening, this guy's imagination or his squee. "But the thought of Shinji being my brother-in-law is... Ugh. If only they weren't related..." Well, at least you have common sense.
As I walk to the stairs that happens to be right next to the lobbies of each floor, I see another student. "The Editor in Chief of the school newspaper is calling for you. You better go talk to her." Oh right, her. I almost forgot. A duo of two male students are standing next to a trio of three female students, I wonder if they're coordinating a strategy to each others' hearts. I'll go up to the boy group since then we can decide who pairs up with who. "Hey, what's going on? More drama?" Uh, I don't have drama. Just so you know.
How about you? Browner clothing person. "The school newspaper has been so busy these days. There's a lot of weird rumors to check out." Wait, why aren't we discussing strategies. I look over to the group of girls and immediately note something wrong about my previous perception.
Oh, hey there. Miss School Newspaper. "Look who's here! It's the Newspaper Club's ace! Gotten any leads?" Wait, what? "What? Did you forget? You have to write an 'Unsolved Mysteries of Monica' article. C'mon, I told you yesterday. There isn't very much time left before the deadline. Well, whatever. Your work's always good, so I'll leave this in your capable hands! Jeez, my benevolence is like a black panther running around. Yes that doesn't make sense. So that's that. I've done some of the investigating. It's your job to do the rest." Wait a second. "...Don't look so surprised. There is a method to my madness. OK, so about the first preview edition, the one called 'Gateway to the Paranormal.' So listen... There's supposedly an entrance to the spirit world at the rear of the Archery Range. One time, a male student who got bullied a lot was told to pick up trash there … and vanished. Everyone's totally convinced that there's paranormal activity going on back there. Isn't that scary—I mean, ridiculous?" Uh, sure. Sounds more like someone got murdered, but whatever. "Anyway, go sniff out the truth! Leave no stone unturned! Your nose and eyes are the tools of the trade for a journalist. Got it?"
You're the mysterious one.
"Your reply should be 'Yes, ma'am!' All right. Hop to it!" Fine, geez. No need to tell me twice.
I guess I'll do some research by talking to random students. Speaking of which, I wonder why this student here is standing outside of the library. "That's so weeiird. I tried to go to the Library before exams, but you can't get in..." Did you read the sign? It would help you out a bit.
How about the third floor? What do the seniors have to say about this? There's a lady classmate here. OK, what do you think? "Entrance to the spirit world? Maybe Ashe—I mean, Mrs. Merrill, the Archery Club advisor, knows? If you ask me, Ashe's probably at the Archery Range right now. I mean, she's the adviser." Hmm. Makes sense. I'll try to find her.
Down the left wing of the hallway, I see another female student. Let's see what she has in mind. "Rain or shine, the student council president is at the main gate. Gotta tip your hat to that... Yeah, or pull the sick out of his butt so he can walk away. He's not a bad guy overall, though." I guess that's true. Not what I was looking for, unless Turley has some sort of connection to all this, then I'll just leave.
Further down the hall is the Multimedia Room. Another bulletin board is here.
"Movie Club:
Movie Screening Schedule
This week's movie: 'The Great Pirate Stronghold: Chronicles of the South Seas'"
It sounds like an action-adventure movie... I might want to see it...
On the right wing of the senior hall, there are a few students outside of their classrooms. "Hey, have you noticed how that girl in the Nurse's Office wears long sleeves even in the summer?" Oh, a conversation.
"Yeah, she's always wearing that long jacket. Could it be because her older brother bullies her?" That is a possibility. Or she might just being giving services to those with a sleeve fetish.
I should go exploring some more. Oh... The door to the Rooftop is locked. There is a "do not enter" sign hung on the doorknob. Oh, well. Time to go back to the first floor.
The first floor seems lively, there are quite a few people here conversing and hanging out. Out of the blue, a feeling that something was moving behind the door of the supply room overcame me. As a rule, students aren't allowed inside of the supply room. It might just be a rat or something. For some unknown reason, I find my eyes drawn to the door of the supply room when ... the door is suddenly and violently thrown open.
"What do you think you're doing?" Without warning, a man appears from out of the shadows. Dressed in black with a dour expression, the person in question is very intimidating... But that sense of intimidation is immediately replaced with extreme discomfort and unease. A sudden, overwhelming sense of danger gives me goosebumps all over my body. His cold, blank stare sends chills down my spine, as though he's marking me for death... For some reason, it feels as if he is deciding whether to break my neck or skin me alive. If this was a tv show, I would bet that there'd be some ominous background music playing right now.
"...Odd. Your name doesn't appear to be on the list, but I had better make sure..." He begins to mutter under his breath while at the same time he reaches out with his right hand. The chills running down my spine gain intensity as waves of nausea and vertigo wash over me. I feel like a rabbit watching the wolf draw near. Maybe this isn't just raw terror. I think he's holding something that's making me feel this way? There's someone standing right behind me; I think she's afraid of this man, too.
"You're not even trying to fight. My instincts aren't as sharp as they should be. I need to rest." The note of disgust in his voice is obvious as he slowly lowers his hand. The paralysis that seemed to take hold of me suddenly fades away. The man continues to look down on me with those dead eyes of his. "Students are forbidden from entering the supply room. You'd do well to remember that. The campus is about to close. If you have nothing else to do, I advise you to go home now... Is there anything else?" I didn't answer. "..." Another pause. "My name is Mr. Beck. I will be teaching here starting today." The man who introduces himself as Mr. Beck turns and heads back into the supply room.
With that, the final bell begins to chime, signaling the end of the school day. Everything begins to progress as normal, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. But I'm still sore and slicked with sweat; an all too real reminder of what happened. Wonderful. We now have a teacher with obvious "murderous intent" teaching at our school.
The girl behind me speaks up for once, "Wasn't his name … Beck? He seems … not dangerous … but definitely merciless." Is there any difference in this case? I don't think so, but I'll leave you to ponder your own thoughts.
I begin to explore around the first floor again, finding a pair of students talking to each other outside of their classrooms. "Wait a sec... Is Nurse Cristina really Shinji Hackee's little sister?" Um, yes. I think that's what everyone's talking about.
"Where did you get that idea? They don't look anything alike." Maybe they're adopted, you never know.
"Huh...? She's not?"
"Uh... I'm not really sure. I feel for her, though. It's like she's the topic of a million rumors..."
"Plus she has Shinji as a brother. If I was her, my diary would be longer than War and Peace." That would be pretty amazing if it was actually true.
"You actually keep a diary? How … archaic. I never expected something like that from you." I wonder why people aren't yelling at me for eavesdropping into people's conversations. It's not my problem.
There's someone standing outside of the boy's restroom. Hey, dude. If you need to go in, then you should just go. I know that public toilets aren't the most sanitary things in the world but you have to relieve yourself somehow. "Have you met the new student counselor Beck? Talk about terrifying..." ...Terrifying enough to go to the bathroom. "He seems so cold. I didn't think he was a teacher at first. Just a glance from him made me shiver." No bathroom. OK...
Hmm? There's this young lady, with long black hair, in a nurse outfit apparently conversing with … Hackee.
"Hey, Cristina!" The girl turns around to face Shinji.
"Oh... It's you, Brother." Not all that pleased to hear from him, I guess.
"I heard that you've been skipping out on the archery club's morning practices lately! Why haven't you been showing up? And where do you get off taking a break without my say so?" Possessive much? Also, kind of creepy when you think about it. "You bi... I get it now. You've been going to 'their' house again, haven't you?" Their house?
"...Yes. I have been going there, but I just wanted to help and..." So soft-spoken, this lady is.
"Let me guess... You felt you were obligated to, right? Jeez, why must you be so damn naive? Wait a sec... What was that just now? Anyway, if someone gets hurt, just leave them to suffer. Just do what I tell you to, and things will be a-OK. I mean, it seems like people get some kind of perverse thrill from getting in my way. To force one of my … err … my dear little sister to miss valuable practice time..."
"That's not how it was at all...! I wasn't forced to do anything. I wanted to help!" Oh, she has some backbone. "...Um... Why don't you... Why is it so wrong to help those who need it?"
"Ha! Isn't it only fools and the weak who manage to get themselves hurt somehow? And why help anybody out? Will that person ever pay you back or help in return? Of course they won't! And if you think otherwise, you're an idiot! I won't be used by anyone. It's better to treat others as cattle. And isn't it time for you to admit to feeling the same way?" This random speech reminds me of a philosophy of sorts. It wasn't very good.
She pauses for a moment, "But... But, for me, that option..."
"Stop right there. I don't care what you have to say. Stop going to that house, Sakura. Got it?" Shinji walks away since he's done speaking his mind.
I should make my approach to council her or something similar. "Oh...! I-I mean... H-Hi... Can I help you with anything?" Well, not really. How about you? "If you ever start feeling unwell, please come by the nurse's office." ...I guess that means you're fine.
I'm going to have to go to the Archery Range now. So I enter into the schoolyard and find another classmate out there waiting for me, I guess. What do you think about the supernatural? "An entrance to the spirit world? No clue. Maybe you should ask the Archery Club Advisor, Merrill. You want to know where Ashe is? Wouldn't she be at the Archery Range or something?" You're right. That's where she'll probably be.
I see a student hanging out near the range, I'll go ask her some questions too. "The priest from the neighborhood chapel has been coming to school a lot lately. He's tall, dark, and handsome... Mostly dark." Did it happen to be a man named Beck? Nah, that's too much of a coincidence.
All right, enough dillydallying. I head into the Archery Range and Mrs. Merrill is standing near the back of the range, staring into the wall of trophies for some reason. "You caught me in the middle of cleaning." I did? "Those Archery Club kids don't even unstring their bows! The worst is when they leave their arrows stuck in the target mound. I usually make the kids do it, but there's no club activities leading up to exams, so I'm doing it. Huh?" I understand, but hear me out about my problems, will you? "Huh? An entrance to the spirit world? That's just a rumor, it's not real!" Just as I thought. Nothing to fear here. "Exams are right around the corner, so don't waste your time on stuff like that. Go home, shoo, shoo!"
Ugh, what appears in the Archery Range isn't an entrance to the spirit world, but As—Mrs. Merrill. Well, I can't say I'm surprised she's behind one of Monica's mysteries. It's fitting. I'll report this tomorrow, so I can go home now if I want.
A day will pass if you go home.
Let's go home. I wonder if I can make an article about the new councilor... That would be interesting as a mystery.
So yes, the day goes on. Also, yes I did update this story within a week. I want to get about the first four chapters done as quickly as possible so then I can relax and go at a slower pace for the further on chapters where things get interesting. Anywho, just expect more of this stuff to come.
