Another: The Class of 1999

Chapter 5 - 1972

When I arrived at school on Monday, Hisoka's desk had been decorated with cards, flowers and drawings, all hoping he would rest in peace. I was unsure of what I should do to in order to honour him - his favourite thing in the whole entire world was music, but it was bass drum which had caused his death... So I drew a quick portrait of him instead, making sure to include his cheerful smile. I left the drawing on his desk.

Aoki Yasuo, the boy who was Hisoka's best friend and one of the members of the band they were in, was distraught, but I could tell he didn't want people to know. All the same, his brown eyes were bloodshot, and I noticed he wore a ring on each middle finger — one which belonged to him and the other had belonged to Hisoka. He was well tanned, and his head was completely shaved. I told him that I was thinking of him and hoping he was doing well. Yasuo thanked me with a nod, but remained quiet. I didn't even want to begin to imagine how he must be feeling — I had no idea how I'd react if someone who I cared about so much died.

I looked around and class, and saw that Clarissa was sat at her desk, still looking pretty shaken up, but she had a thoughtful expression on her face; eyebrows narrowed with concentration, fingers pressed against her lips. Even thought I was determined to get answers, I almost didn't want to nudge her out of the trance. She was deep in throught on the inside, yet she looked so calm on the outside. There was a sense of beauty about her.

When she saw me approach her, she managed a weak smile.

"Tsuki-san," Clarissa greeted me. "I'm glad to see you. How are you feeling?"

"Better than I was on Friday," I responded. "What about you?"

Clarissa shrugged. "I'm alright, but I have a lot of work to do." She placed her hands on the edge of her desks and traced around the corners with her fingers. "Last week wasn't exactly the best for you, was it? This is a new school for you, and in your first week you witnessed what happened to Hisoka..."

This was it... I was going to ask for answers, and I wasn't going to leave until I had been told everything...

Typically, Ishida-Sensei entered the classroom, and I sighed as we all shuffled into our seats. There was a sense of unease in the air, which wasn't surprising. Once again, Riku wasn't at his desk, the desk on Clarissa's right was still empty, and now Hisoka's desk was unoccupied.

"As you all know, Endo Hisoka lost his life on Friday," Ishida-Sensei began. "As some of you weren't in school on Saturday, I will repeat the announcements I gave: his parents have decided to have a funeral with closest family only. However the family are accepting donations, and I'm pleased to hear a lot of your family members have already given their condolences. The Endo family would like to thank you all. The second floor corridor and the outside area where he fell has been cut off from access for all students and teachers."

Just then the door slid open. I turned to look, and Riku entered. He was a lot more quieter this time, as he tiptoed to his desk. Again, I was the only person who had noticed him come in. Everyone else had continued to watch Ishida-Sensei, who continued to speak. Nobody so much as glanced in the direction of the doors, or even flinched when they'd heard it open.

Maybe I was truly going crazy... I remembered what both Clarissa and Akira had said about things that weren't real, and I could feel my heart beating uneasily, irregularly.

"And the final message is to remind you all that Endo Hisoka's death was a tragedy, but an accident. We have no way of it being linked to...you know what."

You know what? Well, that was the problem... I didn't know WHAT!

"Now, turn your physics book to page four, and we'll begin on the second paragraph," Ishida-Sensei nodded.