5 The Teacher's Office

Megumi understood what Akamine-sensei was implying. She just wanted to be her eyes from time to time so she could watch over Hajime and guide him. After all, one must remove the root cause of the problem before one could start solving anything. Akamine-sensei wished to do just that, but she didn't have the leisure as a busy teacher.

"I'll do it," Megumi responded after thinking about it for a few minutes.

"Really?"

"As long as it doesn't take too much of my time." Megumi continued. Of course, as the top student of their year, Megumi didn't want her name to get dragged down by a single person in her class. If she can do something about it then why not? And it's not like she would personally involve herself with Hajime. All she had to do was watch over him from afar.

"Thank you, Megumi. I was fairly certain you'd understand my intentions, that's why you're the person I asked for this favor. I'll be looking forward to your report. Hopefully, this will help our class get a better standing." Akamine-sensei relaxed in her chair. Asking someone was the difficult part and now that it's over, she can finally relax. "Do you have anything else to say? You may go and have your lunch."

With a nod, Megumi turned and exited the office. Her nervousness didn't leave her at all, not until she closed the door of their homeroom teacher's office behind her.

"Just you wait, Hajime, I'll report everything you do and get you expelled," Megumi muttered to herself, a slight smile forming on her face.

.....

Unrecognizable faces, indistinct voices, misinterpreted sounds.

The smell of iron wafting in the air.

The whirring of automobiles, an uneven tire slowly rolling around as if to hypnotize.

The distant lights. Police cars. The sticky reddish liquid flows on the asphalt.

"So? How was school?" A soothing cold voice asked. A face from the front seat turned and smiled.

A sudden flash of light, a deafening noise, and a crashing sound all drowned the response that the voice was about to receive. It was all in a matter of a split second and everything became a fleeting moment, just like snow as spring began to approach. All of their eyes met, it was just a split second but they could feel the connection between them. Everything is going to be all right, that's the expression written on their faces filled with longing and despair.

It all happened so fast that no one was able to react.

Gone.

All Gone.

Only the sound of the ambulance could be heard in the background.

Everything's all gone.

.....

"Aghk~!" Hajime bolted upright, screaming at the top of his lungs and hitting the desk with his knees. The images of the nightmare still lingered in his mind like a film constantly running on repeat. It was too real, too real that it haunted him even in his consciousness.

Akamine-sensei was explaining something in the textbook, writing on the whiteboard, when she abruptly stopped after hearing Hajime screaming. She turned around, wondering what the commotion was all about. As if on cue, everyone in class also turned around, eyeing Hajime from head to toe.

Averting his gaze from everyone and biting his lips to suppress himself from wincing, Hajime sat back down and covered his face with both his arms. It was embarrassing enough for him that he bolted upright, but noticing everybody's gaze gave him another level of embarrassment. It made him want to shrink into a corner and disappear altogether. "It's a preposition... that's a preposition, I see." He whispered as if doing so would suggest that he was listening in the class when he was just taking a nap all along.

Picking up the textbooks he dropped, Hajime returned to taking down notes as if nothing happened. Akamine-sensei also continued on with the lesson since there was nothing she could do about it. As for Megumi, she was staring daggers at Hajime this whole time. If she's not careful, she might even bore a hole through his forehead with that laser gaze of hers.

Once again, Hajime's headache started acting up and his stomach continued its usual complaining. He badly wanted to drink water but he knew it won't alleviate the hunger he felt. 'I guess I have to eat... but that would mean I'd have to spend a portion of my bonus? I can't afford to do that. I have to save up down to the cents just to get by. But one way or another, I have to eat... argh! What do I do?' Hajime wracked his brain. The only solution he could find was a meal, however, so he decided to buy one as soon as he gets out of school.

'For now, I should drink some water.'

Fortunately, Akamine-sensei consented to Hajime going to the restroom. He immediately headed by the water fountain in cafeteria and drank as much as he could, so much so that he felt his stomach was about to burst. That didn't help with his exhaustion and the headache he suffered though. Of course, it dulled his senses a little bit after he washed his face. 'I must endure until the end of class.' He told himself, going back to class since it would be suspicious had he stayed outside the classroom for too long.

Slide.

"I'm ho— " Hajime almost bit his lips. 'What am I saying?' He wondered, the headache getting the better of him. It's not like he was arriving home for him to be saying that.

'Somehow, I have to survive the rest of the afternoon classes without fainting. Oh no! Why did I raise a flag?! What if I fainted today?'

To Hajime's relief, nothing much happened for the remainder of the class. He did notice that Megumi had been glaring at him more than usual, which was pretty unusual. Usually, she would only look down on him when their eyes meet, but now she's been looking at him more often. Hajime could feel the goosebumps on his skin, wondering if Megumi was plotting something, or maybe she was after his life, or both.

"Okay, class dismissed."

"Stand!"

"Bow!"

"Thank you so much, Akamine-sensei." Megumi said as the class president. All this time though, she was staring at Hajime with her eyebrows scrunched.

"Megumi and Hajime, please head to my office once you're done taking care of your things." Akamine-sensei announced before heading out of the classroom.

'Now I get it, this is probably why she's been staring down on me all this time.'