V1 | N1 - I Went Out With A Bang

I remember the day like it was yesterday the day that I and many of my classmates died. It was like any other normal day during the week I had school to attend the same routine that I had been doing for years prior so none of us expected something so out of this world to happen to us of all people.

Of course, the night before I prolonged having to do my homework that was due that day. Being a teenage girl in Japan you end up being more interested in things besides schoolwork.

On that day I was tired after having to stay up late finishing off the homework that I should have done hours beforehand. What made it worse was the fact that it was the first school day of the week for us after our weekend.

When I got to my classroom that day the tiredness across my face was obvious to see that it was the first thing my friends took notice of.

"Nariko, are you feeling okay?"

My friend Sachika Eto looked generally concerned for me which didn't surprise me, after all, we have been friends since elementary school so we pretty much knew each other like the back of our hands. So if she spotted something that didn't seem right with me she would be on me like a hawk so to speak.

"No"

"What happened?"

Just thinking about last night drained me mentally and emotionally, but I gathered the energy to recite my predicament to Sachika.

"Well, you know we had homework that was due today?"

I could see Sachika nodding her head intently looking engrossed with my little tale unfortunately for her it wasn't going to be that interesting. Although I do wish I had an exciting life like that where could tell stories of that level, however, I guess can't have everything handed to you on a plate.

"Being the idiot that I am, I was too busy playing video games last night and before I knew it I was rushing to get that assignment done"
Sachika laughing at this story of mine seemed to make me feel just a little bit better about it all. But that didn't cure this terrible drought of fatigue that I was currently feeling.

"At least you finished it imagine Mrs Agawa's reaction you of all people not finishing the assignment she assigned us last week, after all, you have a reputation to uphold" Sachika giggled upon finishing that statement.

And I knew perfectly well what she was talking about. I came from a rich family so expectations were high for someone like myself to succeed in school. My parents weren't too fond of my hobbies, but how they viewed them as long as my hobbies didn't interfere with my studies they didn't have a problem with it.

Both I and Sachika suddenly heard some commotion with some of the boy's in our class to me it seemed that they were excited about something I hadn't a clue what it was about, but seeing Sachika's face seemed to imply that she had some sort of idea.

"Oh, it's them" the way Sachika said this seemed to show that she knew some of the boys in that group.

"Do you know them?"

She shook her in response to my question.

"No, I've just heard of them..." I notice that she pauses for a moment before continuing "...others think of them as weird or creeps to put it lightly because of the things that they're interested in"

"Have they done something to convince others of that?"

Sachika shrugged her shoulders, "I don't think so I think it's because they stand out and don't really fit in with the popular kids in school is why others look down on them like that"

I looked back over to those group of boys thinking to myself when I suddenly spotted another boy not sitting too far away from them he had scruffy dark brown hair he was looking downward at what seemed to be a book. Lost in thought when I looked at him I had this aching feeling that I knew him from somewhere before, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Oi, Kaze!"

Walking up from behind towards the boy I was looking at just a second ago was Daisuke Baba. He was the designated bully of our class who picked on people like the one he was going for now.

Nobody really liked him except for his close-knit group of friends, but no one wanted to go through the hassle of interfering just to get the same treatment from him, I would but it wasn't like I could stand up to him all by myself. Just looking at his large stocky size was off-putting for anyone trying to stand up against him. Both me and Sachika watched from the sidelines with partial interest mostly to see how it all turns out in the end.

"What's this you're reading?" Daisuke leaning forward over Kaze's shoulder I could his face contorted in a mixture of disgust and ridicule.

Without warning, he snatched the book from Kaze's hands.

"H-Hey!..." Seeing Kaze pitifully trying to get back what belongs to him only to fail made me feel sorry for him. Then again, if he couldn't stand for himself just a little bit I wasn't going to go out my way to do so.

"N-Ninjutsu Gekkuden?"

Hearing that surprised me, after all, that's my favourite manga, and to find out that someone else was into it was a surprise in and of itself most of all it was him of all people.

"Hey, isn't that the manga you always go on about?" Sachika whispered to me, I nodded in response.

"Wow, that's so lame!" Daisuke laughed hysterically. Just hearing Daisuke talk made me sick, but hearing him mocking such as Ninjutsu Gekkuden almost made me want to lash out at him, but I knew better than to do that.

Throwing the book across the classroom one of his friends caught it in his hands he too laughing hysterically like Daisuke. He and his friends continued to juggle the book between themselves as Kaze helplessly tried in vain to get it back.

We were surprised to suddenly hear the door to our classroom open shortly followed by Mrs Agawa entering the room. For a teacher, she was at least in her mid-twenties from what some of our classmates found out she had only graduated and gotten her degree in teaching about six months ago. Many of the girls in school were especially interested because there were rumours of her already being engaged to the son of a rich businessman of a corporate conglomerate.

"Daisuke! How many times do I have to tell you to stop picking on others in class" Mrs Agawa didn't look pleased with Daisuke then again most of her daily troubles and frustrations came from him generally being a nuisance in school.

The loud drained sigh of our class bully nearly echoed through the classroom.

"Yeah, whatever" he carelessly threw Kaze's book back at him before returning to his desk. Many of us, I included didn't think much of Daisuke for those of us that didn't have much to do with him in the first place we simply ignored him for the most part. But with his massive ego, it was rather hard to ignore someone entirely of that calibre.

However, those that received the short end of the stick were either thought of as one of two things. First, feeling sorry for the person or second, feeling glad that it was said victim instead of us. I fell in the former.

Mrs Agawa took attendance once that was finished she moved on to announcements. Some of us sat in our seats waiting for the onslaught of boring monologues for upcoming events for the week. Depending on the aspect of said announcements some of us would be interested and others not so much, but for the most part, would take in bits here and there as to not be totally out of the loop.

"First, I'd like to remind you all of your upcoming mid-term exams next week..." before our teacher could finish a unison of groans could be heard throughout the classroom Mrs Agawa ignored the complaints "...as always you are expected to study in your free time in school, but we also advise you attending cram school or studying at home to further increase your chances of success."

"Second, the cultural festival will begin shortly after the mid-term exams as always you're expected to present something as a class, but please don't let this planning interfere with your studies"

Looking around I could see a mixture of students taking in Mrs Agawa's words, and others simply ignoring her such as the likes of Daisuke and his small band of misfits. It was pretty obvious that my fellow classmate's interest had quickly dissolved at this point in time.

That was when I noticed the light it wasn't massively noticeable only if you were really trying to look for it or just happened to glance that way. At first, it just looked like a typical sun flare that you may witness while the sun was out on a summer's day, but that was the thing it was autumn at the time so sunny days were less frequent.

So of the other students started to notice it and of course, it didn't take long for my fellow classmates to start muttering and whispering among themselves.

"Stop talking and listen!" Mrs Agawa shouted out it seemed that she hadn't yet noticed the unusual sun flare like some of her students.

"B-But Mrs Agawa, there's this weird...sun flare effect up in the sky" one of the students replied.

"What are you talking abou..." Mrs Agawa started trailing off when she too looked out of the classroom windows only to see the exact same thing as her students. Looking at her I could see that she was just as taken aback by it as much as the rest of us were.

The blinding light suddenly grew larger and I could see what looked like some sort of bubble of light coming towards us from the sky. As it neared the sound around us deafened before we saw the classroom and our friends get sucked into the bubble. Almost like we were being disintegrated. My surroundings looked to be torn into tiny particles as I saw my classmate's get sucked inside the bubble along with their desk, chairs and belongings into god knows what.

I didn't even have time to contemplate what was going on before I felt this searing hot sensation cover my entire body as if I was being burned alive. It scared me because I wasn't reacting to it, in fact, I couldn't it was almost as if something forcing me from responding, but then I felt tears running down my face. And it was then that I had sneaking suspicion that I was going to die.

It wasn't long before everything around me went black.