Hello once again, guys,
I've had some trouble thinking about how this chapter would turn out, since most of my ideas were too non-realistic and too wierd to fit in the slice-of-life genre. These ideas involved zombies. Can't help it. Just watched the first episode of the Walking Dead, and I got stuck.
Also, to those who read this, thanks for giving me the time of day. Reviews are very much welcome.
Anyway, here's Chapter 3. Enjoy.
Chapter 3:
It was the middle of the week, and for most students in school, this meant that friday was within reach. That also meant, for most students, that this was the huge bump of the week - something big they had to get over before the weekend. This was true for Keima. He hates Wednesdays as much as Fridays, but he woke up earlier than usual and left the house ususually early as well. That didn't happen on mondays or mondays. Well, that today was a wednesday didn't really matter to him now. And it was all thanks to a special person.
"Mio Akiyama?" Yuzu glanced at Keima with a strange look.
She, too, woke up earlier than usual, making it so that she didn't wasted her already wasted sleeping time, she decided to open up shop. A few minutes into opening the bread stall, he noticed a familiar boy making his way towards the bread shop. No boy of his age would go this early just for bread. He had to be here for... somthing else.
"Yeah. Could you possibly tell me more about her?" Keima said as he pinched off a small portion of his bread to eat. This was pathetic, he though to himself. Now he already feels like a stalker. If he had to know something, he should have just asked the girl himself. But nothing's wrong with a little reconnaisance, right?
"Are you a stalker?" The shopkeeper said as she gave the boy a piercing look. The question almost made Keima choke on what he was eating.
"I am NOT." He objected after he coughed to clear his throat. "I just wanted to know a little bit more about her, you know."
"Sheesh. Unless you have enough balls to talk to her, it doesn't matter how much you know about the girl." Yuzu said firmly as she began placing more trays of freshly baked bread out for display.
She had a point. Keima let out a sigh as decided that it was pointless to snoop around. He had to man up and ask her himself.
"I heard she was in a band." Those words made Keima stop in his tracks.
"I think it was your school's light music club." Yuzu said as she went back from the shop's inner rooms to bring out more bread. "She's shy, but she's really kindhearted. At least, that's what the other students say." Yuzu said as she scratched her nose.
Keima glanced back at Yuzu as she gave him a sly look. "That's all I have for you. Go find out the rest for yourself." The shopkeeper disappeared once again into the bakery.
Keima stared off into space. "The light music club, eh?" He thought to himself as he said his thanks to Yuzu on his way out of the shop.
Later, after class, there was quite a commotion in the Music room. One would have never thought that such noise would be coming from a small group of five. The noisiest of the group being a girl, all red from embarassment.
"I saw Mio-chan with her boyfriend yesterday!" Yui said, out of the blue, while the club was having their afternoon tea.
"Eh? Its not like that!" Mio said as she blushed from her bandmates' teasing.
"Oh? Then who was he?" Ritsu poked Mio with her spoon. "Your brother then?" Ritsu had a knack at teasing Mio. It was almost second nature to her, with her knowing all Mio's weak spots.
"Come on, tell us!" Yui said as she banged her hands on the table.
"Good for you, Mio-chan. I wish I had a suitor too." Mugi said as she poured tea in each of their cups. It seems Mio was put on the spotlight, after Yui saw her and Keima the night before at the music shop.
"But wasn't he the same guy that was watching you practice?" Ritsu said as she leaned back on her chair. "Maybe he really was stalking you!"
"He wasn't stalking!" Mio screamed as she drove her fist into Ritsu's face. It was surprisingly strong, enough to push back the drummer's seat back a few feet.
"He's not like that..." She added as she remembered the words that Yuzu-san said to her.
"Hoho. That boy? He never said his name. But I heard that he had his eyes on someone in the school."
"Then why are you do defensive?" Ristu said as she dragged herself back to the table, with a huge bump on her forehead.
Mio didn't reply as another girl stood by on the other side of the room.
"Hey, aren't we supposed to be practicing?" Asuza said as she was checking the tune of her guitar. Come to think of it, its been a while since the club had any serious practice.
"We'll pratice after tea, Azu-nyan!" Yui said cheerfully as she munched on some muffins Mugi brought.
"That's the same thing you said yesterday!" The black haired girl said in a frustrated voice.
The group continued on exchanging stories and small talk, except for Mio who was silent all that time.
"Ah. Screw this. I can't stand the smell." Keima said, taking off his face mask as he left the chemistry room. His group was given extra work that afternoon, becase their experiment didn't produce the expected results. They couldn't be blamed, though. The stench of the chemical mixture that they created, which was only supposed to be a weak acid, was very much pungent.
"I leave this in your capable hands, gentlemen." Keima said with a cheerful smile to his two groupmates as he took off his laboratory gown. He didn't bother to finish the task - he decided to give up on it. The other two, demoralized with the surrender of their groupmate, decided to call it quits as well. Because of this, they decided to dump the chemical mixture they created in the sink, pretty much the same way the other groups did earlier. The other boy left too, leaving only one person to deal with cleaning up their mess.
As he dumped the flasks of mysterious liquids on the sink, the boy handling the chemicals suddenly spaced out, and dropped the flask onto the table, breaking the entire flask. Alarmed, the boy hurriedly ran off outside to get a mop, making sure no one was able to see him. By the time he got back, the chemicals had already dripped to the floor, contaminating the entire table. Panicked, the boy cleaned the table and the floor real quick, and made it look that the accident never happened. After checking the room, the boy hurriedly left.
But he didn't seem to notice the electric socket beside the table, and how soaked it was.
Keima tucked away his laboratory gear in his locker and loafed around campus a little bit. He wasn't doing anything important anyway, so why rush getting home?
"Looks like we didn't get to practice after all." Asuza said as she blankly sat there on the music room's couch. She was itching to play her guitar. They were the light music club, after all. And what they were doing these past few days wasn't related to music. At all.
Yui was beginning to pack up her stuff to get home. "Its getting late, we should probably get home." The guitarist yawned as she stretched out her arms, as if exhausted, although all she did that afternoon was eat the treats that Mugi brought.
"Lets go out for crepes!" Ritsu exclaimed with matching pose, as if leading the entire club with her craving for crepes. This enthusiasm was met with a smack to the face as Mio reminded her of her academic duties. "We have a quiz tomorrow, remember? This is no time to be slacking off."
"But it won't hurt to just eat crepes, right?" Yui added as she stared at Mio with puppy dog eyes. The bassist sighed and picked up her bag. "You're always eating."
"Oh, Mio-chan," Mugi said as she turned to her keyboard. "I think something's broken with my keyboard's power cord."
The group gathered around the instrument and watched as it repeatedly turned on and off, as if the electricity was fluctuating.
"Hmm." Ritsu said as she put her hand to her chin in a gesture of thought. "It looks like... your keyboard is haunted." The drummer said in a grim voice. Mugi laughed as Ritsu's reply. "What? There's no way that would happen, right Mio-"
But as she turned to the bassist, she was already tucked away in the corner. "I can't see, I can't hear, I can't see, I can't hear." She said in a low voice, trying to ignore anything else that she would hear from that conversation.
"Relax! Its just the extension cord!" Ritsu smiled as she held in her hand the extension power cord that Mugi was using. It looked quite old, as the plug head itself was already worn out. "Lets just get a new one downstairs later. I heard they keep the stockroom open for these situations." Yui stared at the cord, as if only seeing it that time. "But don't we need the teacher's permission to do that first?" Mugi said as she examined the cord too. "No need! We can just tell our dear Adviser about this tomorrow!" The drummer said with a triumphant smile on her face.
"Now then, who's going to go?" The others stumbled on the floor as soon as Ritsu said those words. "Acting big, then placing the workload on someone else..." Mio blurted as she took the chord. "...I'll do it."
"But Mio, they said the stockroom is haunted" Ritsu whispered into her ear before a blow slammed the drummer to the wall.
"In that case, I'll go with Mio-chan!" Yui cheerfully said as she picked up her bag. With a few more small talk, the club meeting for that afternoon was adjourned.
Mio and Yui said their goodbyes to the other members of the band as they reached the first floor of the school. The two made their way to the laboratory rooms, where the stockrooms were also located. "Here, this room's not locked." Mio said as she pulled the sliding door and walked towards the other end of the room. Seeing the storage room, Mio tugged hard on the door, as it seemed to be stuck. "Its stuck." "I'll help!" Yui grabbed on to the knob with Mio as they pulled hard, and the door finally gave, revealing a dark room filled with shelves of unorganized spare bulbs and other materials. "Don't they clean this room frequently?" Mio complained as she coughed from all the dirt Yui and Mio tried hard not to inhale any of the dust that was inside as they ventured into the room.
Meanwhile, out on a nearby table, a certain familiar socket started to short circuit, sending sparks onto the floor. After a few more moments, the remnants of the mixture began to catch fire, setting the entire table on fire.
"Here we go!" Mio held in her hand a new extension cord, still in its packaging. "So, do we leave this-"
Mio's sentence was interrupted by a sudden loud bang, along with the trembling of the ground. Panicked, Yui turned to Mio. "Lets go!" Maybe somebody saw them enter the room, and probably has reported them. "I knew this was a bad idea!" The bassist cringed as she thought of her perfect record at school.
It seems that the fire has already spread to the gas lines where the burners were supposed to be connected. The earlier noise must have come from the jars of mixtures that the other classes kept for the next meetings. As they exited the storage room, they were greeted by another explosion.
The explosion sent Yui stumbling to the floor. She looked around in horror as she saw the entire room going ablaze. "Hurry, Mio! We have to get away!" She screamed to her friend, but as she looked back at her, she was pinned to the floor by one of the shelves, probably toppled over by the earlier explosion. "Yui, help!"
Frantic, Yui rushed to her and tried to lift the frame that held Mio's legs. "Its too heavy!" The guitarist screamed in frustration. Grimacing in pain, Mio looked to Yui. "Yui, you have to get help!"
Scared, and not sure of what to do, Yui screamed at her with a worried face. "I'M NOT LEAVING YOU BEHIND!"
"There's nothing you can do here!" Mio replied as she tried her best to stay calm. "GO!"
Yui reluctantly stood up and ran through the small gap between the fires to find someone - anyone that could help.
Mio started to cough as the fumes started to fill the room.
"Hurry.."
Keima was startled by the bang he heard. He sat up and looked around the field to see if there was anyone. There was no one. "Must've been my imagination." He said as he sighed and began to lie down again. But before his head could touch the ground, he heard another bang. "What the hell?"
"That's a bit too early for fireworks." He said to himself as he walked back to the school's lobby, seemingly the source of the noise, to see what the commotion is about. Then, he was surprised to see a short haired girl run out of one of the halls, and she seems to be frantic.
Seeing Keima, Yui ran towards him and grabbed him by his arms. "Stalker san! Mio-chan, she's-"
The boy, ignoring the girl's connotation for him, froze as he began to smell the scent of smoke that came from the girl, and from the hall. "She's trapped in the burning chemistry room! W-We..We have.." Those words were already enough to tell Keima what he had to do.
"Call for help, I'll go get her!" Keima said in a firm voice as he rushed towards the hall. How big was the fire? Was there any way out? The boy ignored those questions, and focused only on one. "Is Mio safe?"
Keima stopped by the laboratory door to see the extensive damage that the fire has already done. Taking one deep breath, he plunged himself into the room and into the smoke. "Mio!" He screamed, hoping that she still had the consciousness to hear and reply. "Mio, where are you!" He glanced around frantically, trying to find the girl until it was too late.
A few feet from Keima, Mio was barely conscious. She looked out to where she was hearing someone calling her name. "Keima...kun?" She saw a figure shrouded by smoke began to move about the room.
"Mio!" The boy continued to scream as tears began to form in his eyes. He was suddenly struck with panic, as he glanced around to look for the girl. He had to save her. He wouldn't forgive himself if he couldn't. The smoke was beginning to get thicker. Any longer and the two wouldn't be able to breathe.
"Keima-kun!" Mio shouted with all her might. Her legs were beginning to get numb. The frame of the shelf began to absorb the heat of the fire too. She knew that they had to find each other, or face death together.
Keima caught sight of a door's silhouette in the smoke, and rushed towards it. Entering the hallway, he glanced at the girl he was looking for. Rushing to her side, he dug his hands into the perforated frame of the shelf. "As soon as I lift the shelf, move your legs, alright?" Keima blurted as he tried his best to speak properly, amidst the smoke. Keima pushed with his arms, but the shelf wouldn't budge. "Dammit!" Keima said as he gasped for air. The metal frame of the shelf was starting to be unbearably hot.
"W-We're going to die aren't we?" Mio said in a trembling voice as she began to cry. Keima clenched his teeth as he listened to her sob. "No." He said with a firm voice. Mio froze and looked up to him.
"Don't give up so easily!" Keima shouted out loud as he lifted the shelf with all his might. The effort made the shelf budge, lifting it a few inches, just enough for Mio's legs to be free.
Breathing heavily, Keima began to choke on the smoke. "Crap." He glanced outside to see the fire now bigger than it was earlier. He turned to Mio and grabbed her hand. "Come on, lets go!"
By this time, the fire had already spread to the adjacent rooms in the first floor. The floors, the walls and the ceiling was already on fire, and the smoke was unbearable for someone standing up.
Keima scanned the room frantically for any possible exits. The door from where he came in was a no-no, since it only led to a burning hallway. Out of options, he glanced at the window. "Mio, grab on to me as tight as you can."
"Eh?" Mio turned beet red as he said those words. "Just do it! It's nothing malicious!" Keima said in an alarmed voice as he began to blush himself. But before she could give him permission, he carried her on his arms and took a deep breath as he knelt.
"God, I hope this works." These were the words that shocked Mio. "WHAT? What do you mean-"
But before she could even finish, Keima put all his power into his legs and ran at full strength to the windows. Seeing he was already near the glass, he turned so that his back would be hitting the glass. As he gave the floor one final push, he braced himself for the impact.
Mio kept her eyes closed and squealed as the pair went through the window as the glass shattered into pieces. It was a fairly high fall, as the laboratory was raised a little bit higher than the other rooms.
Keima lay on the grass a few feet outside the window as Mio was still clinging to him. Opening one eye, Mio glanced at her savior. "Keima..." She said in a concerned tone. He went through all that to rescue her, and almost got killed himself. Now she was worried if he was alright.
"Hey, are you..." Her question was met with no answer.
"Keima-kun, wake up. Keima!" Tears were welling in her eyes as she pounded on Keima, hoping he would answer back. Or at least, just open his eyes.
"Akiyama..." Keima said slowly in a tired tone. Mio's face started to brighten up.
That was until she heard the next two words.
"...you're heavy." He said weakly as he opened his eyes to look at Mio.
Her face was the last thing he saw before he got knocked unconscious, though it was her fist that he last felt before he did.
In the Next Chapter:
As the smoke clears from the accident, the hero Keima is put in front of the spotlight. Also, the Light Music Club finally gets to meet Mio's Stalker! Will he be able to keep his cool?
