Chapter 3:

Punishment

The Sanctuary of Seven - Vol. 1


     The floor slid under my feet, dizziness all over my body. My legs start to shake and I feel that at any moment they will give up, and my body will hit the floor. I don't know if what I'm hearing are the voices around me or my heart beating because I can't even tell if my heart is still beating. My blood freezes through my body and my limbs feeling cold as if I were sitting in the snow in the middle of the frost.

     The image fades, all the bodies around me becoming more and more blurred and only a few shadows are showing in front of my eyes. I have the impression that I hear my name several times, but I am not able to discern every letter that the shadows utter. The words seem to come from another dimension and I have the vague impression that I am dreaming again, things being very similar to the dream I had. But I know that now everything is real. I feel the coolness that surrounds me, I feel the dizziness that makes my head float, and I feel like I’m going to fall.

     I start to lose my balance and sway back and forth, trying my best to stay on the ground, even if I can no longer feel the floor below me. I try to look around, but all I can see are faceless black shapes approaching me and trying to say my name over and over again. Among them, the brightness of the neon lights in the cafeteria seems to blind me, making a too strong contrast between the shadows and the dazzling areas.

     “Iwamoto!” I hear a voice whispering right next to me. “Iwamoto, if you don't come back I'll call for help!”

     The words ring in my ear loud and clear as if the person whispering to me is in my mind. I'm trying to open my eyes. I pull my eyelids up and suddenly I feel my eyes almost go out of orbit. I take a deep breath as if I forgot to breathe all this time or as if I had drowned and someone had just taken the water out of my lungs.

     “Iwamoto!”

     I hear loud and clear how my name is shouted from the mouth of a person I know. But I can't remember her name. However, I can't get back to her, no matter how hard I try. The image of Nagamine comes to mind. His blond hair flutters through the air, the wind blowing as if only through his strands. He smiles slightly at me, barely raising the corners of his mouth.

     I feel my hand touched, and my eyes fall in its direction. Nagamine takes my hand and for a few seconds I can't look up at his face. I let out a shy smile and when I look up at Nagamine, his face turns into a younger version of him. I look at Nagamine when he was just a little boy taking care of me, a scared girl by her own shadow. I close my eyes and let the wind blow through my hair.

     I vaguely remember this memory. I was with Nagamine in a green yard. All the children around us were running away playing a game that I can't remember very well, and we were both sitting and smiling.

     I feel another hand touching my shoulder and when I open my eyes to look at Nagamine's baby face, it's as if I wake up dreaming of reaching the cafeteria again. My heart starts pounding, feeling my body fill with anger.

     “Iwamoto! Iwamoto, are you okay?” Imada asks worriedly.

     I return angrily to her with a sudden movement of my body, thwacking her hand violently. I follow her frightened eyes under my strained eyebrows. My face frowns at the most spiteful expression I can have and I gaze at Imada as if I want to kill her. The anger is getting stronger and stronger and no matter how much I refrain, the only instinct I have now is to slap her hard.

     “Iwamoto Akemi!” a voice clamors the headteacher in a harsh, stern tone.

     My fists clench and my anger begins to be replaced by fear. My body starts to shake uncontrollably and no matter how much I want to hide this, everything seems very difficult to control. I quickly turn my gaze to the buffet and with it my whole body returns. I see the headteacher trying to get off the buffet, coming fiercely at me. I imagine that if it were possible, this man would now put out flames on his nose and ears.

     I cast a fleeting, frightened glance at the people around me, who cast curious glimpses at me with hundreds of hints. Everyone remains silent. I watch Imada for a few seconds until the headteacher reaches me. Her gaze is startled, with a terrified expression.

     “Iwamoto Akemi, come with me, please!” says the headteacher, trying to keep his tone as calm as possible.

     I conform. I turn my back and nod, taking one last peek over my shoulder at Imada and Hokama. The headteacher goes ahead, leaving the cafeteria, and I follow him without saying a word. The worst part is not that I will have big problems because I dared to have such an outburst towards my girl-friend, which is obviously a forbidden thing that violates the most important rule of school, but the fact that the world should not know that I was friends with Nagamine.

     Because he and I weren't quite compatible with the system the school uses when choosing our friends, we just had to ignore each other as if we didn't know each other. But it was inevitable. The only way I could communicate was by looking in the school hallways at him and by giving notes to each other.

      However, there is another strange part that I cannot explain and that I hope no one else has noticed. I just hope that because of the shock I had, I imagined the whole thing. When Imada put her hand on me to make sure I was okay, my hand hit hers to remove it. However, I did not feel that my hand moved in any way. I even remember holding it close to my body, feeling something inside me move to protect me.

     We arrive in front of the principal's office. None of us say anything. The headteacher walks with pressed steps towards the counter, talking to the woman who works there. He changes a few words I can't hear, whispering more, then turns to me.

     "Wait here," he tells me, knocking on the principal's door.

     In a few seconds, a thick voice is heard from inside, and my headteacher goes invisible as he enters the principal's office.

     My legs sway, sitting on the chair and waiting with my heart in my mouth. Will I be expelled? Did anyone else see that I didn't move my hand next to my body? What would happen to me if someone saw such a strange thing? I would probably be subjected to rigid and scary tests, but I'm used to it. But for the simple fact that I hit Imada, I think a great punishment awaits me.

     I listen to the ticking of the clock as if waiting for my death. Death ... the mind runs again to the dream I had last night. I have a strange impression of this dream as if it were a sign that Nagamine was dead. As crazy as it sounds, it seems like a valid hypothesis. The world around me would deny me if they ever find out what I am thinking. Not to mention that I would have died a long time ago if they had found out about all the illegal things I did. But it looks like I'll get my punishment soon.

      The headteacher comes out of the principal's office and makes me get up, heading straight for the door. Fear grips my body, which is why my hands begin to pull on the material of the uniform. The white blouse tightens in my fist, distorting the shape of my collar. The black cloth skirt tightened on my body as if I had gained weight overnight. The whole uniform seems to tighten, squeezing my breath.

     “You can come in,” I hear the director's voice.

      The headteacher shows me one last disappointed expression, then I head into the office, respectfully greeting the director. He beckons me to sit down and without taking my hand off my shirt, I comply and follow his orders.

     “Miss Akemi, so... Mr. Yasuhiro told me about the embarrassing incident in the cafeteria. I'd like to ask you if you were friends with student Nagamine Keiichi,” the principal tells me, putting his fingers crossed in each other's mouths.

      I shook my head several times, an uncontrollable panic gripping every part of my body and mind. The director is small. The years of his youth spoke for themselves and they spread on his face, through a multitude of curly wrinkles. The hair is not thick either, the director having a beginning of baldness in the middle of the head, and the rest of the hair being grown only in parts.

      “Could I know why you had such a reaction?”

     My mind freezes, busy thinking about poor Nagamine. I swallow hard and raise my head, trying to calm down and clear my blurred thoughts.

     “No. Nagamine Keiichi and I had no connection. All I know about him is that he was older than me, that his name was Nagamine, hearing his name called several times by his soul mate, and that he had biology after my class,” I pour everything as if I had prepared this speech a lifetime. “The reaction I had was a shocking one and I can't explain the gesture I had towards my friend Imada Katsumi. However, it is the first suicide I hear of, especially being an incident in our school. This shocked me, and my mind began to think about my younger brother and my family, compared to what the Keiichi family is going through.”

     The director seems pleased with my answer, although I do not know how much he believes me. He nods without making a sound and after a few seconds, he just analyzes both my appearance and the whole situation I am in, takes his hands from his mouth, and opens a drawer. He takes two sheets carefully which he meticulously completes the first one.

     “The first sheet is for your parents. I want it signed and brought in by tomorrow. The second sheet I will fill in now is for the National Programming Institute. Because you will work after school for a month cleaning the high school with the cleaning ladies, your schedule must be changed. Thus, tomorrow morning, before the classes start, I will want a certificate issued by the NPI.”

     I agree without saying anything else. I take the two sheets after they are completed and wait for the director to allow me to leave the room and resume my classes from this day.

     “Iwamoto Akemi, I would like such events not to take place again. You will be under the supervision of teachers until we are convinced that your naughty behavior returns to normal, respecting the conduct of the high school. I would like to remind you that such behaviors and outings are completely forbidden, both by the rules imposed by the school and by the government of the Region.”

     I agree. The director beckons me to leave the room. I wish him a good day and I comply, leaving his office. I go out into the hallway and go straight to my closet, where I carefully place my sheets in the biology book. I already missed the first class because of the two unforeseen and unfortunate events, so I will take the biology book with me home to learn. The next class is in economics, so I take the textbook and notebooks I need and go to the classroom.

      I glance at the clock on the wall, indicating the last two minutes of the hour remaining, and the ten-minute break between classes is soon announced. I lean back against the wall and without thinking twice I open the economics book to read the lesson I had to prepare for today.

     I bend the edge of the pages a little, wrapping several between my fingers and let them fall until I get to the lesson I need. The sheets stop before I can reach the page I was looking for, seeing a small note stuck to the back inside. I open the textbook wider and stare at a note with wide eyes. My body is full of tingling that I can't control.

     I kneel and place the textbook on my knees, taking the note. I peek over my shoulders, making sure there's no one around me, and open the small note.

     I finally decided what I wanted to do with my life. I would be a hypocrite if I didn't agree with you. Whatever you find out at school tomorrow morning, you know you have no reason to feel guilty. You influenced me, but for good.

I love you and we'll see each other at some point. I'm killing myself tonight. Thank you, Iwamoto Akemi!

-NK

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