Ayaka Aikawa's POV
"Argh! Why do I always get a fucking headache every morning!?"
I clutched my head in pain as soon as I woke up. Why can't I ever be those other girls who wake up in the morning well-rested and stretching their arms while looking all cute in their messy hair!? It's unfair!
After a few minutes of moping around in bed with my throbbing headache, I got up and went to take a shower.
Ever since I was a child, I've always had headaches when waking up. Every time I get a REM sleep, the first thing that greets me will always be a throbbing headache. It's strange because I'm perfectly healthy and I always sleep on time, and yet the throbbing headache never left me. Hell! Even the doctors say that they have no clue whatsoever. Could you believe that? Doctors just waving off whatever godforsaken condition I have!?
Anyway, lately, I've been getting quite used to these headaches. It might've taken me over thirteen years but still... I couldn't even get up for an hour back then, now I can do my early morning routine just barely.
After I got ready, I went to my little sister's room to wake her up.
I banged on her door. "Mayuri, wake up! It's 6:47 now! Mayuri!"
"Alright alright!" Mayuri's voice came from the other side of the door "Jeez, you're so loud..." It sounded like she just woke up from my loud voice and got annoyed.
"I'll be downstairs making breakfast so get up already!" I replied.
"Yes sis, jeez! So loud..."
I chuckled on my way downstairs. It's so fun to annoy her because she's so adorable!
Opening the refrigerator, I decided to take out some bread, eggs, and hotdogs, a generic breakfast for the Aikawa family! Since our parents haven't been home for about five years, I've been forced to adapt and take care of myself and my little sister. My parents are out abroad, and due to the nature of their job, which I know nothing about, they apparently can't just come home at a whim. But they do call from time to time and send enough money for us to survive so that was enough for me and my little sister. Although I do wish they'd return home sometime soon.
"Ack..." My head suddenly throbbed in pain causing me to clutch it, "Why won't this just go away...?" I said as I pushed myself to endure.
I began cooking my and Mayuri's breakfast. While I was busy preparing our meals, Mayuri, who had just gotten ready for school, took a seat at the dining table. She then took out her phone in boredom and started scrolling.
"Say, Mayuri," I attempt to make conversation. "How's school? Have you made any friends?"
Mayuri stopped scrolling on her phone and then replied, "Yeah..." Then went back to scrolling.
"Good to hear," I said while turning off the stove, "Alright breakfast is ready!" I announced. Mayuri heaved a sigh, then said, "Finally..."
. . .
After we were done eating, I was at the sink washing the dishes.
"Hey sis," Mayuri suddenly called out to me, "Can I ask you about something?"
"What is it?" I replied.
"It's about... Uhm..." Mayuri began fidgeting, "I- Uh..."
"Oh," I guessed what her question was, "Is it about crushes and stuff? Oh my!" I teased.
Based on Mayuri's shyness, it was pretty easy to read what she was gonna ask. It was pretty common for middle-school girls like her to begin developing feelings like that, especially in the middle of the school year.
"Uh..." Mayuri blushed at my sudden guess.
Bingo!
"Y-Yes... It's about that." Mayuri confirmed while fidgeting, only getting even redder in the process.
"Ohoho I see! Hehehe..."
"But it's not about me though!" She said.
It's definitely about her now.
"Not about you? I see I see!"
"It's about a friend of a friend you see..." Mayuri said. "There's this guy that she likes very much and well... She can't contain herself anymore so she plans on confessing soon so... Do you have any tips on how to make a successful confession...? This friend of a friend could use it..."
I turned off the tap water after
washing the dishes, "Hmm... Let me see..." I began thinking, "For beginners, I think the best thing you could do is find a beautiful and great spot... Like a garden or something like that. Maybe even a sentimental place for the both of them would work better."
"I see... A beautiful spot huh..." She replied while twirling her hair. Then, the alarm on my phone goes off.
"School's starting soon, shall we go?" I said.
Mayuri, who seemed to have been in deep thought, flinched, "Oh-uh right! Let's go, sis!"
In this morning's entire walk to school, Mayuri would be lost deep in her thoughts and would almost get hit by a running motorcycle if it weren't for me.
. . .
It was convenient that my school and Mayuri's school were just neighbors. Having my meek and shy sister across the road made things more easier and convenient for me.
My gaze lands outside the window of the classroom, thinking about when the class will end. I check the time using my phone. It read 10:27, and that made me slump on my desk, "Ugh..." School is boring. There aren't even any teachers right now and I don't know why. Plus, my only friend was called out to the office for some reason, and when asked why, she simply replied, "You'll see! Tee-hee!" I will fucking maul her when she gets back.
"Damn you, Ophelia..."
The door then slides open revealing our homeroom adviser. Since he just taught his subject earlier this morning, he must be here to make an announcement.
"Quiet down, everybody; I have an announcement to make," He said, "The student council election will be held this Friday; please see to it that none of you will be absent that day. Remember to vote wisely. Additionally, me and the other teachers are quite busy today, so we might or might not be able to teach. Although that doesn't mean that any of you kids are free to go home, but just do whatever. That is all, have fun." And then, just like that, he left.
What lazy teachers.
"I can't wait for the election! Who will you girls be voting for?" One of my female classmates said, beginning the talk about the newly spread information.
"Oh my gosh isn't it pretty obvious? Ophelia for president of course!"
Huh?
"Same! She's like so perfect for becoming a student council president!"
Wait a second...
"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if there were no other candidates. I mean, everyone would be voting for her!"
"Right, it's not even a question at this point. She's so popular among the campus that practically everybody knows her name."
Ophelia's running for student council president!?
This was my first time hearing about it. I see now, Ophelia being called to the office earlier this morning is probably related to that. But I wonder why she never mentioned it. And then I remembered what she said before leaving me alone.
Now I will really fucking maul her when she gets back.
But still, to think that Ophelia would be running for student council president. That's pretty amazing. As her best friend, I must show her the best support I can. I wonder if I should run for secretary since Ophelia's presidency is pretty much guaranteed at this point. And that moron can be pretty incompetent at times, so it makes me pretty worried; then I remembered that running for a position required talking to a lot of other people and being convincing, which was not my strong suit.
I guess I'll just support her from the sidelines; good luck, Ophelia.
Listening to the entire class just praising Ophelia has gotten me bored, so I decided to take a nap while waiting for her to return.
. . .
"..."
My body floats in a dark space. No matter what direction I look, there is nothing. If I try to speak, nothing comes out, and if I try to feel my body, I feel nothing. It's so silent here and there's nothing to do, nothing to do but drift endlessly in this nothingness of a world.
I wonder why? People say that when they sleep, they have this thing called dreams and stuff where either good or bad things happen; I even hear stories of weird events transpiring in their dreams. But I could never understand them, after all... I've never dreamt before. Every time I sleep, it's just nothing. Just a silent, pitch-black world where time feels irrelevant.
. . .
"....up Ayaka."
My head began to have a throbbing headache again as I heard someone calling out my name.
"Come on, Ayaka, wake up, rise and shine."
I force my heavy eyelids to open despite the painful headache. My friend, Ophelia, was back.
"Did you get a nice sleep?" She said with a grin.
"You-!" I said and grabbed her shoulders, "You're running for student council president!? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise, I guess? Hehe." She said with a chuckle.
"But Ophelia," I sighed and let go of her, and with a very dramatic tone, I said, "You're so incompetent that when you become president, the school will probably plunge into ruins..."
"Rude!" She huffed, "What kind of person do you think I am?"
"Someone who's room is messy!" I declared, loud enough for the whole class to hear, "Someone who doesn't know how to sweep the floor! and someone who relies on MY notes to-"
"Oi!" Ophelia covered my mouth "What are you saying!? Don't spread such lies! Are you trying to make me lose the election!?" She shouted out of panic.
It was, in fact, not a lie, but she said it was, to try and save face.
"I'm saying that if you're running for student council president, someone as incompetent as you is gonna need a trustable secretary, like me," I said, my voice muffled.
Ophelia let go of me and seemed to be considering the thought.
"That might work, but," She said, "Can you even do public speaking?"
"Uh..." I couldn't say anything. Yes, my voice can be loud, but I'm not used to speaking in public. "I'll try... I guess?"
"Haa..." Ophelia sighed.
"I'll do my best!" I tried to persuade her, "I promise!"
"Haa..." She sighed once again, "Fine fine. Let's get started then."
"Huh?" I tilted my head, "Get started on what exactly?"
"Well first you have to register to run as a candidate for secretary, then we have to prepare our speech, then my platform, make our fliers then print them out, buy packs of candies to throw on the day of the rally, then practice our speech, then practice more for the day of the rally. Oh, and we also have to make sashes to identify our party list. Additionally, we need to make a motto and promote our party list on social media, meaning we have to create a template for our profile pictures. Then, we need to write a short, witty, and attractive paragraph that we would all post to expose ourselves more, and I also want to make a short skit that we can upload to promote our platform more. And that's about it I think." After finishing her long explanation, she smiled. "So are you still up for it?"
"O-Of course! Bring it on!" I forced a smile, hiding my real feelings. I can't back down now, and I won't let this idiot bring the school to ruins with her incompetence.
And so began the long day with my friend Ophelia...
. . .
It was nearing the time for lunch; I was in an empty, unused room with Ophelia and other party list members. They were brainstorming the skit that they would film later while I was writing that short, witty, and attractive paragraph to be posted later on.
"Finally done..." I dropped my pen as I slumped on the table.
"Mhm. Good work Ayaka, let me see..." Ophelia picked up the paper, "This is pretty good, I think we'll use this." She said.
"Question," I said.
"Yes?"
"When I registered at your party, why was secretary the only vacant position?" I asked. Ophelia might be incompetent, but I have to admit she's smart.
"Well, what's your guess?" She said with a mischievous smile.
"Damn you Ophelia..."
She left the secretary position open on purpose, how cunning. Although it irks me that someone like her predicted my actions so easily.
The bell rang, signaling it was lunchtime. I promptly stood up.
"Alright, everyone, time for lunch! I'll see you all back here at 1:00 PM." Ophelia dismissed everyone.
I hurriedly exited the room.
"Hey Ayaka wait for me!" I heard Ophelia shout, but I was annoyed with her, so I didn't wait for her.
I ran to the classroom to make sure Ophelia couldn't catch up, grabbed my lunchbox, and then went to the rooftop.
Since I was particularly fond of being alone. The quiet and desolate rooftop of the school was the perfect place for me, but...
"..." There was a guy, sitting crossed-legged with his back against the wall, staring at me as he munched on cheap reheated food from the cafeteria.
Just great, I thought I'd get some peace and quiet to cool my head from Ophelia's cunningness. Well, whatever, I'll take this chance to earn some votes for my candidacy.
"Haa..." I sighed, "You like being alone?"
I took a seat right next to him. He tilted his head.
"You're contradictory." He bluntly said.
"Excuse me?" I asked in confusion.
"You asked if I like being alone, and yet you come and sit down next to me anyways." He said.
"Well, this is usually MY spot, it would be awkward if I just sat next to you without saying anything," I said with a hint of annoyance in my voice. His bluntness irritates me for some reason.
"Why didn't you just sit over there?" He said pointing to a distant spot.
"Huh?" My voice perked up "Like I SAID, this is MY spot. Why should I adjust for someone new here?"
"What's this, you own the rooftop or something? And for the record, I was here first." He replied.
"Ugh, whatever, how annoying," I said, not wanting to argue any further. I just got rid of Ophelia, yet another guy that irks me just as much appears, just great.
I opened my lunchbox and began eating. The Mister Blunt guy next to me can't shut his mouth for more than thirty seconds, though.
"You are contradictory." He said.
"Shut up, didn't your parents teach you not to disturb people when they're eating?" My voice was starting to perk up again.
"Ah, well. You were the one who disturbed me first." He retorted.
"..." I decided to ignore him and keep eating. Because if I continued talking, there's no doubt I would have cussed him out.
A few moments later, the person beside me was done eating. He placed the food tray on the floor beside him and then drank his water bottle. At the same time, I was done, too, and was packing up my lunch box.
"I like solitude, peace, and quiet." He said. Answering my question from earlier before.
"You're answering that now?" I asked in confusion.
"Yeah. I was annoyed that someone else turned up earlier, sat next to me, and then talked to me, so I ended up being rude. I apologize." He said, however, there wasn't any hint of sincerity in his tone of voice.
"Tsk, whatever," I replied, his lack of sincerity irritated me.
"Do you like solitude, peace, and quiet too?" He asked.
"Are you autistic or something? I'm clearly irritated by your presence and yet you keep trying to make small talk with me?"
"It would be a waste if I didn't take this opportunity to know what a person running for secretary is like." He said.
"You knew?" I asked, surprised that he knew that I was a candidate.
"Talk spreads fast you know?" He said. "All I did was listen to the murmurs of my classmates though. And then I saw your I.D. just now."
"I see," I sighed, "Well good job for being observant. To answer your question, yes. I like solitude, peace, and quiet."
"Wouldn't it be hard for you? Someone who likes solitude, peace, and quiet running for a position in the student council. As I thought, you are contradictory." He said.
"Well, you could argue that it is exactly because I like peace and quiet that I'm running for secretary."
"How so?" He asked.
"Well, isn't that one of the student council's jobs? To maintain order and peace among the students?"
"Hm, that is true I guess. But being the secretary means you're needed almost every time. You better be ready to say goodbye to solitude then." He retorted.
"I know that, and I'm ready for it."
"I see. Well, good luck then." He said, standing up.
He isn't bad I guess, although he's annoying and too blunt for his good.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"My name is Haru. It's nice to meet you." Haru replied.
"Nice to meet you too, Haru. Although you already know my name, I'm Ayaka. You better vote for me after all that, okay?"
"We'll see. You were rude, annoying, and loud, so I think I'll vote for the other candidate." He said while leaving.
I could feel a vein popping as he said that.
"You know what? Fuck you!" I blurted out.
He ignored my statement and disappeared from view.
I hope that when he rips off the sheet of paper on which he wrote a 1000-word essay, it will tear the wrong way.
As I stood up with my lunchbox in hand, a green glowing shadow figure with a kid form was visible from my peripheral vision. I turned towards it and watched as it dashed through the metal door of the rooftop into the staircase.
Then, the strands of hair on my body stood up as I watched a dozen of them come rushing to follow the first one. My brain couldn't comprehend what I was witnessing; it was something supernatural, completely out of this world, nothing I'd ever seen before. They had no facial features, their body was pure black with an outline of green, and they didn't make a sound even when they moved so quickly, as if they were air.
"What... was that?" My legs gave out, and I stared at the metal door, not having any idea what I just witnessed.
"Were those... Ghosts?"