The door, sounding just as exhausted, whined open with a creak, then slid shut with a thud.
Clack! Clack!
A pair of heels clacked against the wooden floor.
"Apologies, everyone." The woman's voice was barely audible among the students. "I was held up by—"
Her words were drowned out, swallowed by the crowd's wild torrent of sound.
She gave a weary sigh before raising her voice firmly. "Attention, EVERYONE!"
That seemed to get their attention…
The voice, belonging to our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Matsuringo[1], was enough to silence even the loudest discussions.
She wore a dark vest and a matching pencil skirt. A once-tolerant educator whose patience had begun to wear thin.
Everyone quickly sat down at the abrupt end of their conversations. Many groaned in disappointment as their "juicy gossip" was cut short.
I couldn't care less about their rumors.
Across the room, a short, lilac-haired girl rolled her eyes and set her phone away.
Meanwhile, a guy in a large blue varsity jacket shared an amused look with his friend before lifting his elbow off the table.
The remaining few gradually ceased their activities and begrudgingly followed suit.
She stood with her hands clasped together.
"Now, class," she continued, adjusting her glasses. "I hope you all have a solid foundation for this presentation."
"You've been given plenty of time to plan and finalize your drafts."
Most of the class remained silent, with a few sharing anxious glances. Soon, two students, the couple we all knew had repeated the year, murmured amongst themselves.
"Seriously? It's been one week…" he began.
"Yeah! And we're already expected to do all this?" she asked.
He grumbled back, "Guess you can't expect less from homeroom…"
She turned in their direction, her unnerving stare silencing the pair.
They responded with… ahem. Enthusiasm.
"Uh, we mean, yes, Mrs. Matsuringo…!"
"Great! I can't wait to see what you've all come up with then. And remember, this assignment is open to any topic of your choice."
She placed a hand on her temple, shaking her head in displeasure. "So, please. Could you try to be a little more enthusiastic?"
After that, she went on about expectations, this and that, but I'll save you the details.
"That is all for today. Class dismissed!"
With that, the class was dismissed.
Laughter, lively chatter, and scraping chairs filled the room as everyone else made their escape!
- - -
Gabriel grumbled as we left, mirroring the words of the others before him. "It's been one week! How do we already have this much work?"
"Honestly, it's not too surprising," I replied, practically accustomed. "We did have her last year."
"Hey, Gabriel!~ Hey, Lucent!~" A voice called out to us from across the hallway. "It's a little early to be whining about schoolwork, don't you think?"
Our laid-back friend sauntered over, an arm draped lazily on the back of her neck.
Yuzuki Fujisaki.[2]
A rather bold and… painfully honest girl, to say the least. She always spoke her mind with unfiltered confidence.
She wasn't the type to dish out false hope or sugarcoat the truth.
Instead, she'd tell you outright what you needed to hear. Even if it wasn't always what you wanted…
I managed a sheepish grin while the still-bitter Gabriel commented on her remark.
"Just be glad she wasn't your English teacher this year… 'Cause I seem to recall a certain Miss someone over here, always complaining!"
"As if." She glanced away, crossing her arms coyly.
He chuckled, fully recalling. "Yup! A certain someone who Yuzu-ally made a fuss in Chemistry, remember?"
She turned, arms crossed behind her head. "Well, that was different. I dunno, that project was just... stupid."
"Oh, really?" he challenged. "You mean like that time you insisted…?"
'We should totally use orange juice to power the school's electricity!'
"Citric acid!" she gritted, burning a warm shade of scarlet that rivaled her hair.
At once, she'd abandoned the denial plan, with any hope of maintaining her cover completely blown.
"...It would've been awesome if they let us do it!"
Gabriel burst into laughter. "And short-citrused the entire school!"
"S-shut up, stupid! That was Freshman year!" she huffed, embarrassed, as she unleashed a barrage of pouty fists.
Her fury, directed at his arm and shoulder, did nothing to restore her lost sense of dignity.
I couldn't help but tease them. "You two always spark up like a match and flame! Almost like you were made for each other!"
"What? No way!" she retorted.
"Yeah, not a chance!" he continued.
They both faced away before pointing a finger back at one another.
"That's never going to happen!" they responded in unison.
I could only chuckle at their denial. "Alright, okay. Whatever you say." I raised my hands up in mock defeat.
She huffed once more. "Let's just go... Unless you're planning to wait in line?"
- - -
The cafeteria walls shimmered beneath the white ceiling lights.
Distant, inaudible chatter from other students mingled with clinking glassware and the clunky clattering of compartment plates.
We made our way through a bustling line that seemed to stretch on forever. But soon enough, the menu was in view.
As we skimmed over it, a delicious blend of aromas wafted from the meals nearby:
Freshly steamed white rice, fluffy cloud omelettes, carefully diced apples, crispy golden fried shrimp, mixed refreshments, and three stalks of the day's "special" vegetable I loathed…
Celery.
The three of us met up at our favorite spot. A round, softwood table with a peculiar mark.
Was it shaped like the head of an alien or the silhouette of a ghost?
Whichever it was, we could never agree.
We all sat down for lunch, expressing our gratitude for the meal, before digging in.
Gabriel mumbled through a mouthful of rice. "You know," he gestured toward the smudge with his chopsticks. "Pretty sure this old rune was left by an ancient civilization!"
"It's clearly a ghost," Yuzuki asserted. "Can't you tell by its arms and tail?" She tossed an apple slice into her mouth in complete certainty.
"Definitely an alien," I mused, sipping from my drink. "Or a stain from the distant past."
"Think they loved coffee?" I added.
We couldn't help but chuckle at our absurd disagreement, taking some time to eat in peace.
A while later, Yuzuki began with our age-old discussion. "So, got any updates? Any strange findings on the supernatural?"
"You mean paranormal activity and the unknown?" he responded. "Haunted buildings and unidentified beasts?"
She leaned forward, intrigued. "Seriously, you have? Where?"
He scratched the back of his neck and gave a small laugh. "Ehh, no… As far as sightings go, that's all I've heard."
She groaned, slumping down in disappointment. "Ugh, never mind! Those are just rumors if you haven't seen them yourself…"
"Hey, come on! They're not easy to come by!" He pointed a finger back, redirecting the question. "Alright then, Miss Confidence, what about you?"
"What about me?"
"If I found something, I would've said it by now." She shook her head and shrugged. "That's why I'm asking you…"
- - -
She turned to ask me, "How about you, Lucent? Have anything new to share that's outside of the ordinary?"
I was too busy prodding at the green, alien vegetable that had invaded my meal.
She sighed when she noticed my fogged-up glasses. "...And you're still at war with the Celery Invaders."
I was caught off guard by her remark.
"Huh, me?"
"Well, I… uh, believe aliens are out there!"
"We haven't explored every planet, or galaxies for that matter…" I began. "So we can't rule out their existence! You haven't heard of possible life on other planets and mysterious flying spaceships?"
She looked skeptical. "You think so? We've explored more of space than the ocean, yet they've never found any real proof of alien species."
"Man, the ocean must be terrifying if we haven't explored all of whatever's down there!" Gabriel responded, sounding uneasy. "But aliens? You sure there's proof beyond empty claims of UFO junk?"
"It's not empty, it's vast!" I challenged, mildly frustrated. "Besides, I don't exactly believe in those spooky ghost stories..."
"What's spooky is your distaste for celery!" He laughed, taking a stalk from my plate and biting into it with a loud crunch.
I stared at him, the stupidity to prove a point. The bitter aftertaste must have set in as he forced a smile.
"My distaste for certain foods doesn't apply in this conversation. You two think ghosts haunt stinky bathroom stalls!"
Yuzuki was insulted. "Wow, brutal! Of course not! They don't all hang out in dark, stenchy places. What if some of them are… I don't know, friendly?"
"Riiight," I said. "You mean the nice, friendly ghosts who don't torment people for fun! Isn't that their whole thing?!"
"Hey! If I go along with your 'Out-of-this-World' ideas, the least you can do is hear out my Friendly Ghost Theory!"
Sensing the tension, Gabriel quickly interjected. "Aaanyways, while we're on the topic of beyond the dead, what do you think about reincarnation?"
"Coming back from the dead?" I responded, unconvinced. "Isn't that completely contradictory to the whole ghost thing?"
Yuzuki tinkered with her bracelet. "Well, you know what they say, 'Spirits with regrets linger on with unfinished business.'"
Is that what they say?
Gabriel leaned forward. "Do you guys think souls return after they've been freed from their 'vengeful intentions' or whatever? It can't be over when you're gone… Right?"
She paused in thought before giving her take. "You're right! There has to be something more. Some form of living… after… life? It can't end with nothing, that's boring and unoriginal!"
I shook my head. "Can't say for sure. Even if we did, we probably wouldn't remember it anyway."
"Huh…" he pondered the thought. "You'd think they'd come over and say Hi, or something."
"Well," I replied, sliding my leftovers off the tray. "As far as we know, it's just another mystery no one's been able to confirm."
Dooong Ding Ding Doong!
The familiar chime of the school bell interrupted our intense, thought-provoking conversation.
Yuzuki groaned, throwing her arms aside. "It was just getting interesting, too…"
She raised a fist. "Fine! Next time we'll just keep going before you ring!"
"How fast can we cover all the underwater mysteries and once-forgotten lives?!"
The bell tolled in response, signaling the end of our lunch antics.
She sighed, crossing her arms. "Like, we can't talk to others about these things. They'd think it's weird, y'know?"
Gabriel scratched the back of his head. "Get what you mean. But hey, even if people think it's weird, it's honestly pretty cool! Our own secret lunch hangout!"
They were right.
It felt as if I could truly be myself when I was with them.
Every time we'd laugh, even times we'd disagree. They were always there.
My two, yet only true,
Friends.
[1] Mah-tsoo-reen-goh
[2] Yoo-zoo-kee Foo-jee-sah-kee