Drifting Classroom

'As Above so Below'. Ryuunosuke uttered in the depths of his bothered mind. A feeling of dread creeping in. Every part of his body was tensing up. Not from the message - that hung Before them - itself, but from all the mess the crows left behind.

Feathers, broken talons, the surface that surrounded the entire large window were covered in crimson. The view in itself, was that straight out of a horror film. In his eyes, Ryuunosuke wasn't planning on becoming a play character in itself. He had to do something. They had to do something.

Although one might have the idea that Ryuunosuke is another wannabe athlete; as there are plenty out there, the one called Kentarou Ryuunosuke, the one that Seichin knows off, is a completely different person.

As every athlete is talented in the art of sports, Ryuunosuke is also gifted with a higher degree of intellect. He's both a profound scholar and an excellent athlete. Alongside being a star player in the junior baseball school team, he's also a known Math Athlete, and the president to the Math Team.

But in all expertise and knowledge he could fathom, none could explain this phenomenon. The first thought to cross his mind was migration. In all honesty, birds were migratory creatures. And crows as well, were known to travel in flocks. It was a solid establishment, but why would they migrate in spring? It wouldn't make any sense.

'Might have been a bird's flu, a plague or disease of some sort. That could explain the psychosis and bloodshot eyes they produced.' He pondered a bit, lost in deep thought. His hands twitched with the flow of anxious thoughts. His face was a bit pale and was covered in wrinkles; formed from thinking too hard. He was slowly swaying his body back and front, still lost in thought. Just as he was about to discern a clue, Junko Hayata tapped him on the shoulder.

"Why so serious, Kentarou?" 

As the words left Hayata's mouth, a cold chill ran through the back of Ryuunosuke's neck, and he stuttered a bit.

The room was awfully quiet, it seemed like no one had noticed Hayata's appearance just now. Most of the people were staring at the windows, others helping out in reorganizing the messed-up classroom, and those in the crowd were busy chatting between themselves. For those few seconds before Yuzuha called out Junko's name, Ryuunosuke saw them as one sees an eternity pass by.

Frozen in place, Ryuunosuke slowly turned his head to face his childhood friend. As the goosebumps around his neck were slowly forming, the hair on his body all rose up as well. As a self-proclaimed all-knowing researcher, Ryuunosuke could feel something was wrong. Before he could think fully and solve the racing questions in his head, he was face-to-face with Junko herself.

As if nothing was amiss, Junko Hayata, was the same as she has always been. A beautiful well-rounded face, eyes as bright as the sun, she was now well-dressed in the school's uniform. Nothing about her seemed different. Nothing but her shadow. Which now had a third third head.

Observing the white paleness of Hayata's body, Ryuunosuke's hands moved forward and touched Hayata's hands. As he was holding on to her hands, Hayata's eyes slowly traced them out. His hands were shaking. Witnessing Hayata's fixed gaze on his hands, Ryuunosuke drew them away, and formed a slight smile to show that he was fine.

Yuzuha rushed passed Ryuunosuke in a flash, slightly grazing his fingers a bit by her sweater. She flung herself to Hayata, and contorted into a hug. Letting Hayata's head fall on her shoulders. She teared up a bit before asking:

"Where have you been Junko?! Miss Shinomiya was searching everywhere for you. You just vanished and left. Never do that to us again. It actually scared us." She paused a bit to catch her breath. All her shouting had also attracted a ton of unnecessary attention. Some of the teachers from closer classes were already present, alarmed by the sudden shoutings.

From Yuzuha's little brush past his fingers, a tingling sensation was overwhelming Ryuunosuke's hands. He could feel the numbness leaving his body, and a slight newer feeling of pain creeping in. In a way, he was quite grateful for that. Now he had a better idea of what he was working with.

From just the earlier feeling of numbness from the touch on Hayata's hands, Ryuunosuke's mind erased most other thoughts, and came to a superstitious conclusion.

'Junko's hands felt cold. They were cold enough to leave me in a state of numbness. And the pale skin that glosses across her body. It's the same as that of a corpse.'

And as any other person who has delved deeper into the art and beauty of science, everything in him could tell that Junko was alive. And corpses aren't the same as living people.

'There has to be something more to this. Something actually explainable and factual.' Ryuunosuke couldn't think of anything else to do, his mind was lost to all the unnatural possibilities of what was happening right in front of him. He couldn't accept or deny anything. He had to find out the truth.

Staring at his stepsister Yuzuha, Ryuunosuke felt as if he had a higher chance at discovering the missings and finding out the truth of every escapade, of their childhood friend - Junko Hayata.

'With Yuzuha's help, I'll be able to pin down most of the things I can't handle alone.' Turning to Toshi Mizuki, Ryuunosuke swept across the entire 3-b's classroom, trying to study the entire layout of the class. Blazing through the front, a formation of four rows and six columns, his eyes came to rest on Junko.

Seeing her busy with Yuzuha's childishness, brought an idea to his mind.

'I can't put it all as superstition, but biology in itself doesn't lie. All those horror films I've watched, I can't be stupid enough to just drain my thoughts on the timely liability of my assumptions. If a retelling of the past can be captured here, we might be able to understand the truth. Just like stagnant water becomes foul quickly, we must as well remain ever drifting, if we seek for comfort in the unknown. For now, we'll set ourselves as a drifting classroom.'