『Higu-Ano-Co』

【Chapter II — Class 3-3】

「Ｗｈｏ ｉｓ ｔｈｅ ｄｅａｄ ｏｎｅ？」

"Have you heard of Misaki?

From the 9th grade, class 3."

"Was there anyone named that in class 3?"

"It happened 26 years ago.

She'd been popular ever since the 7th grade. She was smart, pretty, and had a great personality, so she was loved by students and teachers alike."

"Yeah, there's at least one person like that in every grade."

"But shortly after she started the ninth grade, Misaki died."

"What? How?"

"I heard it was an accident. So, everyone was really shocked.

Until, suddenly, someone said it."

"Said what?"

"He pointed to Misaki's desk and said...

`Misaki's right there. She's not dead.`"

"Was that..."

"Well, it was just an act.

But from that day on, class 3 continued to behave as though Misaki was still alive."

"That's kinda creepy."

"They kept up the act right up to gradutation. The principal even arranged to have Misaki's seat included in their graduation ceremony."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Sure, if it ended there."

"There's more?"

"The rest of the story is..."

• • • • • • • • • •

The digital clock read 5:44. Below it, the date, April 25th, could be seen. The year 1998 was to the left of that. A phone and a bottle of some type of medicine were in front of the clock, though positioned perfectly to be just out of the way of it.

"How do you feel? Are you in pain?"

I hear Reiko-san's voice calling out to me as I lay there on the hospital bed. My eyes were merely staring at the ceiling.

"No."

"My goodness, what a way to start your life here."

My grandmother says to me regarding my current condition. She sniffled, then said a couple more words.

"You poor dear."

"Um..."

I say as I shift my eyesight to her.

"I'm sorry, Oba-chan."

"Oh, no. Don't you worry about that. You couldn't help it."

I adjust my head to face her.

"Um, does my dad know?"

"I haven't told him. Yousuke-san is in India at the moment, isn't he?"

Reiko-san spoke up.

"Want me to tell him? I have his number."

"No, thank you. I'll contact him myself."

She nodded to me.

"Yeah. That's probably best."

"That Yousuke-san, he's such a dutiful man."

Oba-chan began to speak again.

Meanwhile, the whole room, or perhaps just the sight of me, gave off a depressing atmosphere.

There I was, laying down on a hospital bed. Dressed in the standard patient's gown, sheets pulled up to my chest, with a clear tube connecting to my right lung. The tube ran across my chest and eventually reached a container at my bedside where blood was being stored.

It must not have been a pretty sight.

"In all this time since Ritsuko died..."

Oba-chan's voice began to trail off.

Possibly seeing this as an opening, Reiko-san took advantage of her pause in order to change the direction of the conversation.

"That's the Yomiyama River flowing through the center of the town."

She said as she looked out the window.

"And can you see the grounds beyond it?"

"Um..."

I sat up in my bed, a hand placed to the right side of my chest. Looking out the window towards the river, I noticed a somewhat large building just behind it.

"You mean that building?"

I asked.

She seemed to easily pick up on which one I was referring to.

"Yes. That's the school you'll be attending."

"Is that the same school you went to, Reiko-san?"

"Yes, although that was 14 years ago."

"So my mother went there, too?"

I asked, turning my head a bit to look at Reiko-san.

"That's right. My sister Ritsuko also went to Yomi North."

"Yomi North?"

I questioned, as Reiko-san turned her head to face me.

"Yomiyama North Junior High."

"Oh."

After I responded, Reiko-san looked back out the window once again.

"Public schools are a little different from private schools, but it just takes some getting used to. I'm sure you'll get used to it in no time."

"I hope so."

"You'll be fine. Once you're out of the hospital, I'll help prepare you for life at Yomi North."

• • • • • • • • • •

The clock read 11:52. The date below it was April 26th.

"Oh, you're reading King this time, mister horror lover?"

The nurse spoke to me with a smile.

I sat up in my bed. The nurse was to my left, and in front of me, by the wall, were three other people who I've never seen before. One boy and two girls.

The boy stood in the middle. He had a really dark shade of blue hair, glasses over his eyes, and was dressed in all black uniform.

To his left was a girl with short, light brown hair. She, too, had glasses over her eyes, and was dressed in a black uniform. However, instead of black pants like the boy, she was wearing a short blue skirt, and black socks that ran up to just below her knees. In her hands was a bundle of pink flowers wrapped in a yellow bouquet.

To the boy's right was another girl, this one with dark auburn hair. Her hair flowed down to just above her waist, and was separated between both sides of her head with blue ribbons in a twintail fashion like one would see in a manga. She was dressed in the same black top and short blue skirt like the other girl, and was wearing black socks as well. Though, her socks ran far past her knees, and stopped just below the bottom edge of her skirt, only allowing a small range of skin to be seen between her socks and skirt.

For a moment, we all just remained motionless, looking at one another.

Possibly to break the awkward silence, the nurse turned towards me with a smile, speaking out.

"Well, I'll leave you guys alone."

And with that, she left the room.

Once she was gone, the boy inched forward slightly.

"We're students of Yomiyama North Junior High's 9th grade, class 3."

After that, he stayed silent for a second. I guess he was waiting for me to give any sign that I was paying attention..

"Okay..."

I replied.

And with that, he continued.

"I'm Kazami. Kazami Tomohiko.

This is Sakuragi-san."

He said, using his right hand to gesture to the girl to his left.

"Ah, nice to meet you. I'm Sakaragi Yukari."

The glasses-wearing girl said.

Next, the boy, Kazami Tomohiko, gestured to the girl to his right.

"And this is—"

"Akazawa Izumi."

The auburn-haired girl interrupted.

Kazami lowered his hand, and simply looked straight at me.

Neither of them said a word. They just stared, like lifeless dolls.

"Um, did you want something?"

I decided to ask.

The instant I asked that, Kazami sprang to life once again.

"Oh, yes. Sakuragi-san and I are class officers. Akazawa-san is in charge of countermeasures. We came here today as representatives of class 3."

"Countermeasures?"

"You just transferred here, right?"

Akazawa asked immediately, almost as if trying to avoid me question.

"We heard that you were supposed to start coming to school on Monday, but then suddenly got sick. So we decided to visit you on behalf of the entire class."

Sakaragi said, before stepping forward to hand me the bouquet of flowers.

"Um, here. These are from all of us."

As she neared, I couldn't help but notice the insignia on her shirt.

It was a blue and red pinwheel design, with the letters `yK` sewn in the middle.

"You moved here from Tokyo, right?"

She asked after giving me the flowers.

"Yeah."

"And you went to a private school there? Why did you transfer?"

"For family reasons."

She stared at me. The next words which came out of here mouth sounded like a simple question, yet had an ominous feel behind them.

"Is this your first time living in Yomiyama?"

It was odd, but I was probably just imagining things.

"Yes."

"Oh... I thought maybe you used to live here."

"I've been here before, but I've never lived here."

"Did you stay for a long time?"

Akazawa cut in with a stern voice, almost like an interrogator.

"I can't say. I don't remember. I was really young, so... maybe?"

After my response, everyone fell dead silent. Slowly, the two girls looked towards Kazami, as if wanting him to do something.

He seemed to take the hint.

He stepped towards me, handing me some brown envelope.

"Here."

I took the envelope from him, removing the contents as he continued to speak.

"I made you a copy of all notes from the start of the first term."

The mood took a shift in a different direction.

"Thank you!"

I expressed my thanks to Kazami for the generous gift. At least now I wouldn't be lost when it came time for me to join the class.

"I think I'll start going to school in early May, so I'll see you then."

He nodded. The girls looked towards him with same `We want you to do something` look as just a moment ago.

And, once again, he took the hint.

"Um, Sakakibara-kun?"

"Yes?"

He seemed as if he was going to say something, but hesitated at the last second.

"Well..."

Akazawa, noticing this, decided to take charge.

"Sakakibara—... Your first name's Kouichi, right? May we call you Kouichi-kun?"

It was almost like she had something to say, but couldn't bring it out in the end, so she asked something else in its place.

"Oh, sure."

Akazawa reached her hand out towards me.

"We look forward to getting to know you, Kouichi-kun."

She then just kind of stood there, with her hand extended out to me.

Did she want me to take it?

"Same here. Thanks."

After I spoke, I moved my hand to hers, lightly gripping it for a handshake.

The moment our hands touched, Akazawa's eyelids lowered slightly, like she was studying something.

Sakaragi and Kazami were silent. A couple small sweatdrops were dripping down their faces.

Meanwhile, Akazawa and I just remained motionless for a moment, our hands connected to one another.

Then, she brought up the same ominous question from before.

"Kouichi-kun, are you sure you've never lived in Yomiyama before?"

"I don't think so."

• • • • • • • • • •

Later that night, I headed towards the hospital elevator.

An elderly woman had just exited on this floor, so fortunately I didn't have to wait for one to come.

The doors started to close as I approached, so I had to hurry my way to them and stop the doors from closing all the way.

Once I got inside the elevator, the doors closed.

I looked at the phone in my hand. The speed-dial for my dad was showing on the screen. I didn't call him. I just sort of looked at it.

The elevator moved.

I looked up at the row of lights at the top. Each light was labeled to represent the different floors, beginning from `B2` for the second basement level all the way to `R` for the roof. Just before `R`, the light reading `8` was lit up.

The light then moved to `7` as the elevator headed down.

It was only then that I noticed someone standing directly behind me.

A girl with black hair, a red eye, and a white eyepatch.

"Oh, pardon me."

I said, stepping away to give her some space.

We simply stood by each other in that elevator.

No one said a word to each other.

She didn't even seem to acknowledge that I moved out of the way for her.

It was almost as if she didn't even notice I was there.

She just stared silently, motionless, like a doll.

On her shirt was the same pinwheel design the students from before had.

The elevator light read `5`, then moved down to `3`. Strangely, there was no light for the number 4.

Meanwhile, the silence made me feel uneasy. I decided to try talking to her.

"Are you a Yomi North student?"

I asked.

She merely nodded her head, not saying a word, not even attempting to look at me.

"Do you have something to do on the second basement level?"

I asked, as the button on the side of the elevator wall for `B2` was lit up, meaning it had been pressed.

"Yes."

She spoke, but still didn't turn her gaze towards me.

It was odd, though. Why would she need to go to the second basement level?

"But the second basement level is..."

"I have something to deliver.

My poor other half...

。。。ｉｓ ｗａｉｔｉｎｇ ｆｏｒ ｍｅ ｔｈｅｒｅ。"

...What..?

What did she mean by that?

It felt creepy.. Like something out of a horror novel..

I didn't have much time to ask her. The elevator light reached `B2`, and the door opened.

Step after step, the girl slowly exited.

In her hand was a doll with a white cloth covering its eyes.

I felt a small sweatdrop drip from my cheek.

Who was this girl? What was this `other half` waiting for her other the second basement level?

I had to find out.

"Hey, wait."

I called out, slightly taking a step out of the elevator as she turned a corner towards a hallway of infinite blackness.

Only a faint red light could be seen through the darkness beyond.

The girl stopped, her body only partially becoming enveloped in the unending shadows.

"What's your name?"

I asked.

She stayed silent. She didn't move. It was like all tension of the situation was building up to this moment. Like an important reveal in the beginning a horror novel.

Eventually, she answered.

"Mei. Misaki Mei."

And off she went, walking into the pitch black hallway.

I looked up at the sign hanging from the ceiling.

It read, `Mechanical Room - Boiler Room` ...and... `Morgue`.

• • • • • • • • • •

All those events led up to this moment.

It was stormy morning for class 3-3.

Rain pounded against the windows. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed.

...How did this happen?! ...How is this even possible?!

It all started when Akazawa-san entered the classroom with some oddly-shaped pieces of paper in her hand.

She distributed them out, and with the help of Sakaragi-san and Kazami-san, ordered everyone in the class to group up, and for each group to have one of these pieces of paper.

She even handed one to me, leaving me with an offer.

"If you need someone to group up with, Kouichi-kun, you could group up with me if you'd like."

She said.

Of course, my attention was drawn to the only one of us left out. The girl with the rundown desk in the back of the room.

Misaki Mei.

Everyone in the class ignored her. They didn't even notice her.

They kept insisting ｓｈｅ ｄｉｄｎ`ｔ ｅｘｉｓｔ。。。

I had no idea what was going on. I just didn't feel right leaving a student out like that.

This was supposed to be some kind of friendly charm.

`Sachiko Ever After` I believe it was called.

Akazawa-san merely said it was a new idea for the class to try as part of the countermeasures.

I still don't know what these countermeasures are for, but they must be important since everyone else in the class seems to get the idea.

And so, we all separated into a few groups.

Even the teachers, Kubodera-sensei and Mikami-sensei, joined us.

I had formed a group with Mei since no one else would. Of course, this meant our group was comprised of just the two of us.

However, we still performed the same charm as everyone else.

That was where things went wrong.

An earthquake occurred, devastating the classroom.

And...

...the floor opened up beneath everyone's feet.

And now, at this moment, all I can see...

...is our world quickly rushing away from all of us.

We all fell into a seemingly bottomless hole of infinite blackness.