Chapter 2: School Times
Note: I had off for this week, so I managed to get this done. Didn't expect to get some favs until third chapter! It is welcome either way. Please, take some time to review.
Thanks to all those who took attention to this fic!
EDIT: OH MY FLUBBASdKHASN. MY FORMATTING EFFED UP! I'm so, so sorry to those who read this chapter the first time. Here is the better edited chapter!
UPDATE: Sorry, my boss went through a lot recently, and he took time off last week and put it in yesterday. Expect chapter by Wednesday at the least.
Chapter 2: School Times
8:27 AM
4/9/14
Nagahashi Residence
Kazuo awoke with a groan. His body felt tired for some reason. He didn't get enough sleep last night for some reason. What was-
Oh, right…,Kazuo grimaced. He remembered the events of previous night. The strange world were coffins turned into people.
His mind wandered as he buttoned his shirt. The carpet slipped and he fell back on the TV remote, switching on the TV.
"-or the news in Tatsumi Port Island. A startling new discovery has been made. Patient 0 of a new strain of Apathy Syndrome has been hospitalized today. The first strain of this mysterious disease took place five years ago. Scientists and doctors in the field have agreed that the syndrome is in accordance with the phase of the moon. After a full moon has occurred all traces of the condition vanish. With the exception of the last case, all versions of the first strain happened from early 2009 to 2010. The first five patients were found near Gekkoukan High School were…"
Kazuo stared. Five patients. Five monsters. Was it a coincidence?
Were those monsters part of the person? Or is it like the monster's eat the person in the coffin, so in the real world, they would suffer Apathy syndrome?
Kazuo's eyes widened. That would mean... that other place was actually connected to this one!
He shook his head. Whatever that place was, he could investigate later. If it really existed, that is. He grabbed the remote and switched off the TV.
"Kazuo! Get your butt down here! You're gonna be late!", his uncle cried, "Breakfast is ready! Come and get it.".
At least his uncle was normal. Kazuo smiled as he bolted down.
"Hi! Bye!" Kazuo shouted as he grabbed his breakfast off the table and bolted off.
"Wai-", his uncle shouted before the door closed shut.
His uncle sighed, "What am I going to do about your morning habits?"
He shook his head, smiling, as he switched on the radio, tuning in for Tatsumi News Radio.
8:51 AM
4/9/14
Entrance to Gekkoukan High
Kazuo stared at the school in front of him. The daylight made everything look bright. It was a complete opposite to the tower from last night…
"Are you all right? You've been staring at the school for a while..."
Kazuo turned at the voice. Another person his age was staring at him. Kazuo swore he saw the other guy's bag shuffle a bit.
"I'm alright. I'm fine." Kazuo waved him off.
The other student tilted his head, "Are you a transfer student? I haven't seen you around before…"
Kazuo nodded, "Yeah, I transferred here three days ago from a different high school downtown. What about you?"
The other boy shrugged, "I transferred here when I was in middle school. That was around four years ago."
"Four years, huh?" Kazuo replied.
The other boy nodded. They walked in silence as they entered the school. The other boy stopped for a second.
Kazuo turned, "Something wrong?"
The other boy's expression suddenly changed. His relaxed face gone, he took on a much more serious face.
"Did anything weird happen to you recently?" the other boy asked, a sudden change in his tone.
Kazuo did his best to put on a look of innocence. What does you mean?
"Why? Anything happen to you?" Kazuo replied coolly.
The other boy visibly shook, and his bag shifted once more.
He hiding something...Kazuo thought. He noted it down in his brain.
"Well, you know how the Apathy Syndrome returned right? One of the initial victims is a student here. In fact, in the previous case, a lot of students here were affected."
Kazuo nodded in agreement, "Right. I remember it happened my neighbor once. My uncle and I helped around their home for a couple of days."
The two boys exchanged other small talk until they reached their classroom.
"Well, see ya. It's nice talking to you." the other boy said.
"You too." Kazuo reached for the door. He stopped when he heard a slight gasp.
"You okay?" Kazuo turned quickly. But the other boy's attention was fixed on the classroom sign.
"Your class is 2-F?"the other boy stared. His expression changed to near unreadable.
Kazuo nodded.
"Huh. What a coincidence." the other boy said as he turned away.
"Oh, wait a second!" Kazuo shouted.
The other boy turned, slightly startled.
"I'm Kazuo Nagahashi. You wanna hang out after school, later?" Kazuo asked bluntly.
The other guy blinked. "Uh, sure."
The other person hesitated for a second, before continuing.
"My name's Ken, by the way. Ken Amada."
10:02 AM
4/9/14
Classroom 2-F
Kazuo sighed as Mr. Ekoda droned on.
Who cares about some random dude who wrote the book? Just read the freaking book. You don't need the entire background.
"...well, Nagahashi. You seem to already know the answer if you are sleeping. Tell me, who wrote Genji Monogatari, hm?
Kazuo barely lifted his head. "Murasaki Shikibu, an early female writer". He added the second part as a punch.
Mr. Ekoda, looking shocked for once, bumbled on, "Uh, well, yes that is correct. M-moving on…"
Kazuo turned his attention to his notebook. He listed things down that related to that strange event last night.
-Happened at midnight (may happen again).
-Everyone turns into coffins in other world
-Everything becomes green and heavy, and the moon grows impossibly big (Effect on weather?)
-Possibly related to Apathy Syndrome (Five blobs-Five patients)
-Ken Amada in Class 2-E may know something. Just intuition. Question further after school.
As Kazuo finished, he smiled. It was a little fun to play detective. He recalled seeing the Detective Prince once, on a TV interview.
His stomach growled. Kazuo winced as he realized he forgot his lunch at his uncle's home.
Whatever, I'll stop at Wakatsu to grab a bite.
Kazuo sighed as he tried to zone out of Ekoda's droning. But his mind wouldn't leave the strange tower that had stood in place of the school.
3:55 AM
4/9/14
Outside Classroom 2-F
"Hey Amada!", Kazuo shouted. He managed to spot Ken walking out of 2-E at the same time.
"Oh hey. I was just looking for you." Ken replied. His bag seemed to shift more visibly now. "So, where do you want to go?".
"Wanna go to Wakatsu? I'm a regular there. They'll give us half off." Kazuo replied.
"Half off, huh? Sure!" Ken replied, eager for some food.
"Alright, we can take the subway there". Kazuo replied, laughing.
The two boys talked as they exited the building. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom again. The petals were falling on the pathway, and pink was strewn across the brick floor.
Suddenly, they stopped. There was black limousine parked right in front of the gate. A heavily built bodyguard was standing by.
"Please stay five steps away from the vehicle." The man rumbled.
"Oh...uh...sure," Kazuo said as he walked off. The windows were completely tinted, and it was impossible to see anything inside.
Kazuo shrugged and walked off. He turned to see Amada walking right into the car. Startled, he waited for him, watching in awe. After a minute, Ken stepped out of the car, smiling. Kazuo walked forward as he heard the last traces of the conversation.
"Kazuo...potential….eye on him….".
The voice was female, yet it seemed almost monotone, in its own strange way. Kazuo took a peek inside the car. There was one woman with green hair, and she held onto something gleaming silver. The other woman was someone…
In a white jumpsuit? What the heck...
Kazuo was tempted to see who the third figure was, but as he leaned forward, the door closed shut. Ken walked towards him.
"Hey. What was that about?", Kazuo asked, a slight accusatory tone in his voice.
Ken deadpanned, before returning Kazuo's prompt with a smile.
"They're just some relatives with a very expensive taste, that's all. I told them I was meeting up with you, and they didn't have to pick me up today."
"Oh, is that so...Well, whatever. C'mon, let's go to Wakatsu!", Kazuo said as he walked at a faster pace. He needed to catch the 3:15 railway.
"Alright, alright! You better not have been kidding about the sushi being half off!", Ken replied laughing, as his pace matched his friend.
The two made small talk on their way to the railway. The train was early today, so they barely managed to catch it on time. The attendant there gave them a scoff.
"You're really lucky, you know. If you had come 5 seconds later, I wouldn't have let you on." the attendant scolded.
The two boys nodded, chuckling a bit. But Kazuo's mind was deep at work.
"Kazuo...potential...eye on him..."...What could does it mean? What do they mean "potential"?
"Um… you okay?", Ken asked.
Kazuo blinked. He had been thinking too much about this. It was probably a mistake or something. Or maybe they were friends with his uncle?
Yeah that seems about right…
Kazuo chuckled, "Nothing, just thinking about Ekoda. He gave us five paragraph essay that was super annoying. Honestly, that guy has no life."
Ken laughed, "Well, at least he's not as bad as Ms. Toriumi. She kept calling on random people every time. It's so embarrassing to be put on the spot like that, you know?".
"True, but at least she doesn't give as much work as Ekoda.", Kazuo said.
"Well, fair enough, I guess." Ken said, laughing harder than before.
Time seemed to fly as they walked out of Port Island Station. The bustling atmosphere and the setting sun made it seem nostalgic to those who frequented it here.
They chatted about their respective classes, when they passed the entrance to the back alley.
Ken faltered in mid-sentence.
"Something wrong?", Kazuo asked, concerned.
"No its...its nothing. Just a bad memory." Ken said. His voice became startlingly deep, and for moment, the person who stood next to Kazuo was completely different from the Ken Amada he (briefly) knew.
"Oh...well, whatever. Hurry up! We'll be late."
First the Apathy Syndrome, that weird limousine, and that strange alley...What is going on? I feel like I'm missing something important here...
"C'mon! We don't want to be late, you know!" Kazuo said. He began to walk even faster than before.
This time, Ken took a little time adjusting. Then he too joined Kazuo. A quick walk from the station was all it took to get to the strip mall.
They reached Wakatsu in five minutes. A record time.
The female waitress stood outside the store. She was in her mid-twenties, yet everyone confused her for being a high school student. Her short stature and baby face contributed to that much. Her black hair was loose along her shoulders, and she greeted the customers with big smile. It somehow widened even further when she saw Kazuo Nagahashi.
"Oi, Kazu-chan! Where have you been? You've been gone for three whole days now!"
She bopped him on his head with her paper advertisement. Ken snorted. Kazuo frowned at him, before shaking his head and looking at her.
"I'm fine, Saori-san. Geez... And don't call me Kazu-chan!" Kazuo suddenly exclaimed, burning red.
Saori giggled for a long time. Kazuo could only sigh as he watched her laugh on and on.
"So, are you going to order crab roll AGAIN…. Honestly, you'll become a real crab if you eat this much. You'll become fat and you won't be able to do track again!".
"Yes, I AM going to order CRAB ROLL AGAIN. And YOU are not going to stop me!" Kazuo's entire face was flushed with frustration. That only caused Saori to giggle even louder.
"Suit yourself, Kazu-chan. You're the one going to get fat!" she said in a singsong voice.
With a huff, Kazuo stormed inside. He wasn't be able to handle one of Saori's crazy antics.
Ken watched in amusement. He had never seen his new friend act like this. Ken initially thought that Kazuo was a cool, brooding kind of guy. In many ways, Kazuo was similar to M-
"Oh! Are you a friend of Kazu-chan?", Saori asked. Her demeanor changed suddenly.
"Um, yeah. I was just hanging out with him after-school." Ken answered.
"Oh, Kazuo's SO fun to hang out with. He'll listen to anything you have to say. He's so open minded! But you gotta be careful around him. If you pester him hard enough, he'll get REALLY angry!", the waitress said.
"Heh...Yeah, I noticed. Do you always do that around him?", Ken asked
"Eh, only sometimes. It's really fun to do that to him. He has a lot more redeeming qualities than most people. Most of the time, he's a pretty Smooth guy.", the waitress said. Ken nodded.
"Anyway, any friend of Kazu-chan is a friend of mine! What's your name, kiddo?", the waitress asked.
"I'm Ken Amada.", Ken said.
"Oh! Well, I'm Saori Mitsubishi. Whatcha going to order? I'll let Boss know.", the waitress replied.
"Huh?", Ken said startled by her directness, "Um, I'll have the veggie roll, please."
"Alright then! Have a seat inside. It's going to be rush hour soon…", she said in a creepy voice.
Ken nodded. He took a step forward and stopped.
"Um, Mitsubishi-san?", Ken asked.
"Hm? Oh, you can call me Saori. What's up?".
"Have you notice anything strange about Nagahashi-san in the past few days?", Ken asked.
"Hmmm…. Can't say that I have! Sorry!", the waitress bowed.
"N-no, it's alright. Thanks.", Ken said, as he walked inside. The smell of sushi filled the restaurant. In the background, he could still hear the cheerful waiter.
"Hi, there! Welcome to Wakatsu! What would you like to order?"
6:30 PM
4/9/14
Inside Wakatsu
"What kept you?", Kazuo replied. His normal attitude had returned, and his face showed no signs of his previous interaction with the waitress.
"Oh, I just told her my order, that's its all.", Ken replied. He sat down at the table. A temporary silence between the two filled the air.
Kazuo broke the silence.
"So, what did the people in the limousine say about me?", Kazuo pressed. His tone took on a lower tone.
Ken sensed the sudden accusation, and deflected it. "Eh? What are you talking about?"
Kazuo shrugged, "Oh, Well, I swore I heard someone in that limousine say my name. Maybe I was hearing something."
Ken chuckled, "Trust me that's not what they said."
Kazuo's ears pricked a little. The way Ken said that sentence…
Something's off about Ken.
Ken seemed to know something that I don't. Hmmm… "Kazuo"..."potential"...Wait a second.
Kazuo stopped eating. Ken had been munching on the veggie roll in the meantime.
Could the limousine people and Ken be involved in that place? That would explain what they mean by "eye on him…". Oh wait! There's security cameras at the gate of the school!
Kazuo cursed under his breath. How could he be so careless? Kazuo clenched his chopsticks.
Wait, do they even work? No, the school would have called be by now...
"You okay? You've haven't been eating…" Ken asked worried. His plate had been set aside, finished.
Kazuo blinked. The last roll on his plate remained untouched.
"Oh...sorry. Just a little tired from yesterday night…" Kazuo said, touching his forehead a little.
"Yesterday night? What do you mean?", Ken asked slowly.
Kazuo blinked, as he realized what he said, quickly covered his mistake.
"Oh, that dumb essay we had for Ekoda. I had to work on that late last night that's why. All the way to midnight, actually…" Kazuo replied.
Ken nodded.
"Midnight, huh…", Ken trailed off, his mind in the past.
Kazuo stared at him. He gauged Ken's reaction, his mind trying to process the facts.
Suddenly, he heard a bark.
"Ruff!"
"Eh?", Kazuo said, startled.
A white dog had poked out of Ken's book bag. Strangely, despite it's normal appearance, it had startlingly deep red eyes.
Ken laughed, "Ah! I almost forgot! This is the reason why my bag was shaking so much, if you were wondering. His name is Koromaru. Say hi, Koro-chan!"
"Ruff Ruff", the dog barked, as he wagged his tail.
Kazuo broke into a grin, "Hey there Koro-chan! Nice to meet ya!"
"Woof", Koromaru barked, as he enjoyed Kazuo's petting.
"Wow, you befriended him already? He doesn't take a liking to too many people.", Ken said, intrigued.
Kazuo continued to pet Koromaru, now obviously rolling around in the book bag.
Ken looked at the clock above.
"Oh, it's almost 7 already. I have to go soon." Ken said as he stood up and fumbled for his wallet.
Kazuo chuckled as Ken's face turned pale. Koromaru whined a little.
"Don't worry, it's on me for today.", Kazuo said, still chuckling.
Ken exhaled loudly.
"Thanks! I owe you one."
Kazuo, shook his head.
"It's fine, don't worry. Be safe on your way home. You never know what could happen, you know…", Kazuo said, an underlying tone.
Ken stared at Kazuo briefly, before turning around and exiting the restaurant. Koromaru exited the bag and walked out with him.
Kazuo waited for Ken to turn the corner, then smiled as he hit STOP on his phone.
11:58 PM
4/9/14
Nagahashi Residence
Kazuo stared at the clock once more.
It's almost time.
Kazuo listened to the recording again. He could tell that Ken was clearly hiding something in his voice.
His eyes narrowed as an interesting idea came to his head. He typed, "Ken Amada" in his browser. Nothing relevant popped up.
He tried again, "Ken Amada Port Island". This time, he yielded a public case leak. Startled, Kazuo checked as it listed Ken as the witness to the murder of a "Shinjiro Aragaki". Supposedly, the autopsy read as a "15m close shot", but there was no evidence that anyone was there when the scene was examined. Ken had listed a "Takaya" as the perpetrator, but no one was listed under that name in Gekkoukan for the past 10 years.
Kazuo was stunned. This was the kind of past Ken was hiding?! He never asked why Ken had that serious look on him sometimes, but to think he was the sole witness of a murder…
Kazuo shook his head. Whatever happened, happened. His family was being targeted by Ken and the other people. And he also had to figure out what exactly that other world was.
Kazuo leaned back in his chair. He looked at the clock once more.
11:59...It's almost time.
Kazuo stood from the chair. He reached under the bed, and felt for the old crowbar he used in that other world.
He braced himself for the heavy atmosphere. He looked at the moon. For a moment, everything seemed perfectly normal.
Then the moon grew to a sickening green, and the world pressed down on Kazuo.
Thanks for reading. I'll say when then next update is in the ending note. For the next chapter, it is a bit of a doozy. Expect it to come either Sunday or Saturday next week.
Please review!