Around the time school was about to dismiss on the evening of October 22nd, a boy named Shiki sat at his assigned desk by the left window at the back of the classroom.
Resting his cheek on his left hand, he gazed at the large clouds in the gray sky, lost in thought.
"These boring days... this worthless society... my uncertain future... life is so disappointing..."
A few minutes later, the school dismissal bell began to ring. The sound spread throughout the entire school. The students cheerfully made noise and greeted their teacher in unison.
Ugh... how irritating, Shiki thought.
The teacher, with a gentle and sweet smile, raised her hand to about chin level and waved softly in return.
Then, as Shiki was putting his belongings into his bag, the teacher approached him, placing her right hand on Shiki's desk and resting her left hand on her hip.
"Shiki! Today is your cleaning duty, isn't it? You haven't forgotten, have you?"
When Shiki heard his teacher's words, a slightly annoyed expression appeared on his face. Ah... I forgot.
Then, Shiki suddenly turned his gaze to his teacher's face.
As beautiful as ever... fair and delicate skin... hair the color of an infinite night, tied up like a ponytail... dark blue eyes... a pair of rosy lips... and a smile so beautiful it's both simple and extraordinary, capable of captivating the gaze of any man... Shiki mused.
Just then, the teacher gently touched Shiki's cheek and said, "Hey! Open your eyes, were you falling asleep?"
Shiki snapped back to awareness. "Teacher, I was just thinking about how beautiful you are," he said with a straight face.
The teacher blushed slightly at Shiki's words.
"Don't tease your teacher like that... Start cleaning now, or you'll get home late."
Shiki stood up. "Yes, Teacher Aoi."
Shiki finished cleaning at 5:23 PM, and it had started to rain.
"Thank goodness I brought an umbrella, otherwise all my books would have gotten wet... 5:25 PM... I'm already late, I should hurry home."
Afterward, Shiki went down to the first floor of the school to head home. As he descended, Shiki felt a strange and chilling presence behind him. The rain had become heavier, and not only had the sky grown darker, but the air had also become colder. Shiki slowly turned around. What he saw at that moment made him freeze in shock. Shiki didn't even know what the thing he was seeing was. The thing he was seeing defied the logic of the world and science. Its color was only black and white, and it had the form of a human girl. Black smoke-like things moved around her. Her hair floated in the air as if a breeze was blowing, even though there was no wind. A fly that flew near where she was standing suddenly stopped in mid-air. In the empty space beside her, small black holes were appearing. These holes looked like small, deep pits, as if they were piercing through dimensions. Shiki tried to see her face, but he couldn't. Her face was like an empty space, with nothing there. Her body shape was the same. She changed direction and turned towards where Shiki was. At that moment, Shiki's vision suddenly stopped, and he could no longer see anything. Shiki was terrified and started to scream, but Shiki couldn't use anything except his consciousness; he couldn't feel anything anymore. A few seconds later, Shiki regained consciousness in his classroom, holding a broom.
"Huh!! What happened!? What was that just now!? How did I get back here!?"
Shiki looked around his surroundings.
"Did it already stop raining...?"
Shiki suddenly glanced at the time.
"5 o'clock... 8 minutes... Huh?..."
Shiki was extremely confused. He was certain that what he had just seen was not a dream. What he was currently thinking was that he had traveled back in time.
"Is this really possible...?"
Shiki asked himself. He didn't know what was happening now, nor did he know what had just happened.
"That's enough... I'll just hurry up and finish cleaning and go home quickly. I'm the only one left at school."
After Shiki finished cleaning, it started to rain. He then looked at his wristwatch.
"5:24 PM... the same time it started raining just now... So, I really did go back in time..."