Chapter 2
Sitting in her English class, Mizuki glanced out the window into the hallway for the thousandth time in the last 20 minutes. To her surprise, she saw Ena walking by, late pass in hand. By some sort of divine intervention, Ena looked her way. Mizuki immediately sat up a little straighter (how ironic,) and gave Ena a smile and a wave.
Ena, who looked… Well, like anyone would after waking up late on a Monday morning, also lit up as soon as she saw Mizuki. Seeing either one of them even remotely on time during normal school hours wasn’t exactly common in the first place, so both of them being there at the same time was like winning the lottery. Ena returned her little wave, though a bit more enthusiastically since she wasn’t the one in a classroom at the moment. She mouthed a silent “Hi Mizuki!!” before continuing off to her own class with a little more pep in her step.
Anyway, Mizuki, who was now the most awake she had been all morning, waited until Ena rounded the corner to basically giggle and kick her feet.
In English class.
…And only then did Mizuki remember An was sitting behind her, watching this entire interaction.
Maybe An was paying attention for once and didn’t noti—
bzzt.
Direct Messages:
An Shiraishi: Lovebirds.
Mizuki Akiyama: Shut up
Mizuki Akiyama: Mind your business
Mizuki Akiyama: This is why you’re failing English
Mizuki Akiyama: Pay attention
An Shiraishi: LMFAO
Mizuki put her phone down, glaring over her shoulder at An. She was met with a smug little grin, and An continued typing before Mizuki received another message.
Direct Messages:
An Shiraishi: I know what you are
Mizuki Akiyama: I’m gonna hit you with a bus.
Mizuki slammed her phone down, immediately regretting doing so when it caught the attention of a couple other students.
“Akiyama. Stay off your phone while I’m teaching.”
As if other students noticing wasn’t enough… She sighed, biting back a retort or calling An out for even texting her in the first place. That wouldn’t do anyone any good, would it?
After English, Mizuki had Chemistry.
“Fuck my life…”
Mizuki sighed, checking her phone again in hopes that the time would magically change to 10:20.
It didn’t.
Mizuki was actually decent at Chemistry, as was the case with most science classes. The class wasn’t why she hated it; half of the kids who targeted her on a personal level were in the same Chemistry class, and the wounds from the Festival were still pretty fresh.
Metaphorically speaking, at least.
The only person Mizuki knew in that class was Toya. She can’t help but wonder if he found out somehow. After all, the boys from the rooftop were in that class…
“It’s not like he tries to hide it or anything…”
No. Not this. Not now.
“It’s just surprising that you would be friends with someone like that…”
Nonononono… Mizuki was getting dizzy again…
Why now…? Why did this have to happen when Mizuki had somewhere to be?
Mizuki couldn’t tell what was happening anymore, if she was dissociating, having a panic attack, or something else. She couldn’t really feel her body anymore, she felt like she was floating while her physical body just kept moving on autopilot. Her vision was blurry, yet she couldn’t get her eyes to focus. The incessant chatter filling the hallway began to fade, and the rest of her surroundings soon followed.
Nothing around her felt real, memories from the festival invading her mind and replaced everything around her.
Their voices, their words, circling her thoughts like buzzards—
Aki
ya
ma.
Aki
yama.
Mizuki felt hands on her shoulders, the sensation so distant it could’ve easily been her imagination.
Whose voice was that?
Mizuki looked up, and for a split second, she saw one of them.
She blinked a couple times, praying that her mind was playing tricks on her.
“Akiyama? Can you hear me?”
This time, she was actually right.
It was just Toya.
“Huh…?”
Mizuki’s voice was uncharacteristically soft, almost meek. She glanced around, relieved when she saw that she was in the science wing of the school.
Not the rooftop.
Not that hallway.
She heard rapid, heavy breathing and quiet sobs. She was momentarily confused, until the realization hit that they were her own.
Mizuki also realized that she had zero recollection of getting here. She remembered checking her phone as she left English class, but after that…
It’s all a blur. At least, everything real.
The memories were, as usual, just as vivid as the day they formed.
Mizuki glanced back up at the confused, concerned Toya, blinking a few more times to make sure he was real. Relieved once again, she sighed.
“It’s… just you…”
Her voice was shaky, uneven as Mizuki attempted to quell her sobs and steady her breathing.
“Who else would I… Nevermind. What happened?”
Toya asked the obvious question, the quiet sound of his voice soothing, even as he was so obviously worried about her.
“I… I’m not sure. I left my last class, and I was thinking about—“
Mizuki stopped, trying to avoid the specifics of what she recalled.
“…Some things… some guys said at the festival…”
Pausing again, she tried to take deep breaths, tried to keep it together.
“Then I… It’s just a blur, I don’t know what happened…”
The end of that sentence was punctuated with another choked sob, Mizuki’s success in holding off her tears proving to be merely temporary. Mizuki buried her face in her arms, speaking through broken-up sobs.
“I can’t go, they’re in that class… I just can’t—!”
“That’s okay, Akiyama.. You’re okay.”
Toya reassured her, rubbing her arm in an attempt to ground her. To be fair, he had zero clue what to do in this situation; Mizuki was the CEO of masking her emotions around others, he had never seen her like… this. He doesn’t really know what she even meant about those guys and the festival, but if it had Mizuki this shaken up, maybe those guys had something to do with Mizuki disappearing for two weeks. That did happen right after the festival…
Toya pushes that to the back of his mind. He wasn’t close enough to Akiyama to be privy to those details. What was more important, obviously, was helping the poor girl. He noticed the way her eyes looked almost dark; not necessarily in hue, just… dull?
Everything about her just seemed… off, in a way he couldn’t pinpoint.
“I’m going to take you to the nurse, okay? I’ll talk to the teacher later, don’t worry about it. Can you stand?”
Mizuki felt strangely guilty, as if she didn’t deserve the kindness that he offered her without a second thought.
She doesn’t deserve such good friends.
On the other hand, only then did Mizuki realize she was sitting against the wall. She had zero recollection of actually ending up there, though it didn’t surprise her. She was just so out of it, even while interacting with Toya.
He definitely noticed it, too.
“I… Don’t know…”
Mizuki responded after a moment, her voice still unusually quiet and flat. Bracing herself against the wall, she stood up, swaying for a moment. This prompted Toya to lightly hold onto her shoulders again, in case she actually collapsed.
“Sorry…”
Mizuki mumbled, trying not to pass out. The room was spinning, she was already dizzy, and suddenly felt weak and nauseous. This was already humiliating, and passing out on Toya would make it ten times worse.
Somehow, the idea of that actually happening kept Mizuki conscious. Questionable method, but it works.
For now, at least.
The walk to the nurse’s office was silent, which usually, Toya wouldn’t mind. He was a generally quiet person, it didn’t bother him.
Usually.
Mizuki was one of the most talkative people he knew, so Mizuki being dead silent for a good 10 minutes was more than concerning. Despite being curious about what set off this sort of reaction from her, he chose not to comment on it. He stuck around for a few minutes with Mizuki after they got to the nurse’s office, making sure she was somewhat okay before going back to class.
Mizuki was alone with her own thoughts again.
Wonderful.
On the plus side, she wasn’t thinking much in the first place due to pure mental exhaustion, so it wasn’t that bad. In fact, she ended up dozing off for quite a bit, and by the time she woke up, it was already…
11:43???
Mizuki checked her messages, and unsurprisingly, had received a bunch from Nightcord.
Direct messages:
Enanan: Do you still eat on the rooftop? We can eat there if you want
Enanan: Where r u
Enanan: I came to school early on a Monday for you Mizuki don’t tell me you’re skipping LUNCH.
Enanan: It’s 11:40 ho are you dead or something???
Amia: Srry I was in the nurse’s office
Amia: Long story
Amia: Just woke up
Amia: Omw there
Enanan: Fucking finally
Enanan: You scared me
Amia: I scared Enanan?? Should I call a scientist??
Enanan: Hurry up
Mizuki smiled to herself, standing up a little too quickly and earning a reminder that she still didn’t feel good. After standing still for a moment, she got a pass from the nurse and headed up to the rooftop.
“Mizuki!”
As soon as Mizuki stepped out of the stairwell, a familiar voice greeted her. Ena immediately pulled her into a hug, thankfully not choking her halfway to death like An. Ena sighed, waiting a moment before letting go of her.
“Why were you in the nurse? Are you okay?”
Mizuki stared back at her blankly, contemplating the least concerning answer.
“Uhhhh… I don’t know what happened. Panic attack, I guess. I took a nap, I’m fine now. I do have to ask though…”
Mizuki trailed off, a sly grin creeping onto her face.
“Oh god… What.”
Ena sighed, knowing that face all too well. She’d act annoyed, most of the time she was, but after two whole weeks of thinking Mizuki was gone for good, she had some newfound appreciation for Mizuki; Even the relentless teasing that she subjected Ena to every five minutes.
“Did you really come to school just to see me, Ena?~”
“Ugh… Yeah, why do you think I looked like shit this morning? I had like, two minutes to do my hair and makeup before I got out the door. Actually, I had to throw my makeup into my bag and do it while I was walking here.”
Ena couldn’t keep her little smile off her face, even though she sounded a single inconvenience away from manslaughter. She couldn’t take herself seriously sometimes, which would then fuel Mizuki’s teasing.
“Akito had texted me saying he saw you talking to An earlier, and I had just gone to bed a couple hours earlier so I woke up to the notification.”
Mizuki was listening, yes, but her eyes were drifting over to that specific corner of the rooftop.
“You’re a normal girl, though, why would you be friends with someone like him…?”
She couldn’t take her eyes off that spot.
“But when she said they’ve known each other for a long time…”
Could she do anything without—
“You’d think she’d know, right?”
—This shit happening again? Two panic attacks in one day was not happening.
Was it?
“Akiyama’s not really hiding it, right?”
“Mizuki, what are you staring at? Nobody’s—“
Ena glanced back at the corner, and back at Mizuki.
Then she understood.
“Mizuki.”
Ena tried to get Mizuki’s attention, and it wasn’t really working. She almost seemed like she was in some sort of trance.
Dissociation, that’s the word.
“We don’t have to eat up here, I don’t mind going somewhere else…”
Ena spoke softly, almost as if attempting not to startle her. Ena hadn’t seen Mizuki like this since she first found her after she ran away, and she’d be lying if she said it didn’t scare her.
Ena’s voice brought Mizuki back down to Earth, and Mizuki started working on slowing her breathing down.
“No, it’s okay, I just… got distracted…”
Mizuki forced a smile, attempting to will away Ena’s concerns. Ena didn’t say anything about it, but it was abundantly obvious that she wasn’t okay. However, not wishing to spark an argument, Ena changed the topic.
“C’mon, let’s go sit down.”
She grabs Mizuki’s wrist, pulling her over to where she had already settled down, a bench on the opposite side of the rooftop.
Ena doesn’t miss the familiar sensation under her fingertips, drugstore bandage wrapped around her arm beneath Mizuki’s sweater; She feigns ignorance, though, now wasn’t the time for such a conversation.
Both girls took turns talking one another’s ear off, essentially the status quo between the two. It wouldn’t be a conversation without Mizuki relentlessly teasing Ena, and it wouldn’t be concluded properly without Ena taking pictures of them together and posting the pictures to her story.
Mizuki watched over Ena’s shoulder, anxiety swirling in her stomach watching Ena select the stories and hit the upload button.
What if people started talking about Ena for hanging out with her?
What if those guys found her instagram?
What if Mizuki ruined her social media image just being there?
Lost in thought, Mizuki glanced up and stared at her “just friend” in a very platonic manner.
How was she friends with someone so perfect? It didn’t make sense. Even with two hours of sleep, two minutes to style her hair, and barely any time to do her makeup, Ena still looked perfect. Not only did she look perfect, but she was far too good of a person for Mizuki.
Mizuki figures she must’ve been some sort of a saint or a martyr in a past life to deserve someone as caring, compassionate, and kind as Ena.
Just friends.