Waka // Poems

Loud and brightly, the students in the classroom recites.

"Ake nureba kururu mono to wa shirinagara, naho urameshiki asaborake ka na."

Even if I know that I will meet you again at dawn, the dawn of parting with you still makes me feel resentment.

Shinji recognizes this paragraph, it is a waka poem from Hyakunin Isshu, poem number fifty-two, Fujiwara no Michinobu Ason, conveys the honest feelings of love.

"Nagekitsutsu hitori neru yoru yo no, akuru ma wa ikani hisashiki mono toka wa shiru."

Do you know how long it feels like a dawn for me, who spends the night alone in mourning knowing that you won't come?

Shinji knows this too, Hyakunin Isshu, poem number fifty-three, Mother of the Right Captain Michitsuna, conveying a sorrowful feeling of a woman that could do nothing but to wait for her husband.

"Wasureji no yukusue made wa katakereba, kefu o kagiri no inochi-tomo ga na."

Remembering forever is very difficult until the distant future, so better yet earlier than seeing your change of heart, I want my life to end today.

And this too, Hyakunin Isshu, poem number fifty-four, Mother of the Honorary Grand Minister Gidōsanshi, saying that even in happiness, there is a love affair that makes us feel uneasy about the future, but it also seems to overlap with the future of people.

Listening to the bright recite of the students, Shinji scratches at the back of his head, "Does our school have a night class?" in a puzzled mind, he ponders.

Well, despite the reason and the fact of having a night class in the school, Shinji thought he is finally safe. There are so many people here, there is nothing to be afraid of anymore!

Hence, putting a please smile up on his face, he raises his hand and puts it on the one and only classroom door. Then, he slowly pushes it to the side.

Just by the moment the light seeps through the door and penetrates into the corridor, the teacher and the students in the classroom notice Shinji. They turn to him immediately at the same pace, they look at the uninvited visitor with a cold stare.

However, just as Shinji takes a glance at the teacher's and students' faces, chill runs down his spine right away. He steps backwards with his legs shivering, he takes his sharpest gasp and stares at their faces.

The students, even the teacher... They have no mouths.

"Ah!"

Just by the moment a scream elapsed from Shinji's lips, the teacher suddenly walks closer to Shinji. She raises her hands and stretches out her fingers, she uses her sharp red nails to scratch and cut her face. She cuts a long and narrow gap on where the mouth should be, she then inserts her fingers into the hole and pulls it open, she peels her skin and flesh apart forcing the hole to widen. Thick blood streams down, now, she is standing right in front of Shinji. She tilts her head and grins at him.

Then, she suddenly asks, "Are you... the student of... Class 1-1...?"

"C-C-C-C-Class 1-1...!?"

As Shinji heard what the teacher mentioned, he reluctantly raises his shivering head and looks up to the sign hanging above the classroom door.

CLASS 1-1. That is what was written on the sign. Now, Shinji has finally found the disappearing Class 1-1 that he has been searching for, however, he thought he has to abandon this chance of seeking for truth now, because in the classroom, all of the students abruptly stand up, they repeat what the teacher just did. They turn to Shinji and cut their skins apart on the mouth, they tilt their heads and grin at Shinji.

Without a second thought, Shinji turns around and dashes away from the classroom. This time, he does not even care which direction he is running towards, he just wants to get himself as far away from the classroom as he can, until eventually he can't run anymore.

He falls to the ground and lies on it, he opens his mouth wide and pants for air as hard as he can. He closes his eyes as he ponders. What he saw just now is unacceptable! They are not night class, they are something else! They are yurei! Ghosts! The voices at the entrance, that were their voices! They are all dead, someone might have killed them! They are trying to find the murderer, they might have taken Shinji as the one they are searching for...

Yabai, maji yabai. Shinji cursed, biting his lower lips. While before he could totally calm himself down, he suddenly feels a cold breeze blowing at him from the back. Then, a small hand pats on his shoulder.

"Ah!"