~Scroll of the Dead~

Junichi High / 9:08

Shin rode as fast as he could on his bike.

‘Damn it,’ he cursed while trying to keep a straight face ‘If only I didn’t stay up playing that game.’

Finally, he arrived at the gate. He parked his bike before staring at the security guard who was having his breakfast.

“Should I go in?” he pondered for a while before turning left and walking past the officer’s notice as he went to the fence at the school courtyard. Usually, he had helped someone sneak in from the small hole in the fence covered by hedges from time to time. The brunette wondered why no one had been caught so far with an escape route this obvious, but that was something he’d figure out another day.

He took off his jacket and backpack as he passed them both through the hole to avoid getting it ruined. Then swiftly, he crawled through the hole like a snake before getting up and dusting his shirt. Shin picked up his belongings before bursting through the courtyard and heading for the window where his class should be.

It was located on the second floor of a five-story building. And luckily, they hadn’t taken down the ladder they used to clean the roof gutters the other day. The boy quickly set it up and placed it in the border between windows to avoid getting caught. Shin took the first step before turning left and right to see if any staff was coming before letting out a sigh of relief as he continued climbing.

The boy arrived at the window of his class before sighing in relief again as the window was kept open.

“Why do I keep getting lucky today?” he asked himself before taking a peek at the current class “Must be a skill issue”

They were currently at the end of the first period, he had missed the attendance for the first time in a while. But there was still hope for Shin, he quickly grabbed the rails of the sliding window before pulling himself towards it.

“Alright,” he said as he hung on the window with one arm “Now for...”

“A hopeless romantic all my life, surrounded by couples all the time…”

“GAHK” Shin bit his tongue as he was scared by the sudden voice from the gate, the guard was leaving his post all of a sudden ‘Wait what?’ the boy began sweating as the man opened the door ‘Oh yeah I forgot he does his inspection before P.E.’ and now he needed to act even faster to avoid getting caught.

Shin threw his second arm at the window as he raised his head, turning right, he saw a black-haired boy with glasses wearing the same uniform as him writing down in his notebook. This was Daisuke Ito, one of his closest friends.

The brunette looked for means to get his attention before he had an idea, he pulled out a laser pen he borrowed from a friend and pointed it towards his lens causing him to look at the source.

‘Who the hell?’ the studious boy focused his eyes closely at the window as the head of Shin popped up mouthing the words “DISTRACT HER”

“What is he saying” A sweat drop formed on his head

Shin fumed before mouthing out the words again “I SAID DISTRACT HER YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING VIRGIN”

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A VIRGIN!?” he yelled out in fury earning the attention of the whole class.

“Ito-kun is there something bothering you?” The teacher called out, her hair was red tied to a bun with a mole located under her right eye. She wore a pair of black trousers and a white shirt with a red checkered pattern.

She looked at Daisuke with a look of worry. The boy in question stole a glance at the window where he could see the trembling hands of Shin Matsumoto begging for a quick distraction even as long as five seconds.

‘Why’re you such a headache?’ his eyebrows twitched before standing up “Sorry Ayaka-sensei, but there was something I needed to ask you”

“Wow Daisuke I didn’t know you were into that type,” said Haruto Ikeda, a redhead male who sat at the back and happened to be friends with Shin.

“Aw” he earned the coos of the entirety of Class 1-B

“Don’t get any weird ideas!” Daisuke corrected his mates

“Oh? And what’s that Ito-kun?” Ayaka asked curiously ignoring the ruckus the class troublemaker caused

The black-haired boy growled inside, he was already putting himself in utter embarrassment so why should he go further? He clenched his fists as he heard the whining noises of the boy hanging from the window.

“I…” he swallowed his spit “will have to tell you outside”

“KYA!” the girls in the class screamed in excitement while the boys laughed earning a tear from Daisuke

“You’re cracking me up!” Haruto wiped a tear from his eye “Oi Ayaka-sensei, he’s giving it his all so better accept it, ya hear?”

“Just like how you’re gonna give it your all cleaning the teacher’s lounge after school.” The teacher simply smiled as she began walking towards the door

Haruto stared blankly “Eh?”

Ayaka turned back to Daisuke “Okay then, let’s go. I’m curious to know why my class had to be disrupted”

“A-Ah yeah why not.” Daisuke began sweating even more as he followed her lead

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They were almost out of the class before the black-haired boy quickly shot a glare at Haruto telling him to help out their friend on the window, Haruto nodded in affirmation. Waiting a few seconds after they exited the class, he ran towards the window and saw a dizzy Shin hanging for his life.

“You’re pathetic.” He grabbed Shin’s arm before dragging him in with all his might.

Shin finally came back to reality as he kissed the floor in relief “THANK YOU SO MUCH!”

“Dumbass she’s still outside grab a seat!”

“Oh right,” he quickly went to his assigned seat beside Daisuke on the left.

A few moments later, the teacher and student duo entered the classroom with the heir blushing in embarrassment as he took his seat and buried his head on the desk.

“Yo!” Shin waved

“I hate you.” Daisuke muttered

“C’mon don’t be like that.” Shin let out a smirk

“Please don’t tell me you completed that game.” the heir whined

“Okay I won’t,” the brunette quietly brought out the game disc and slid it under his seat partner’s desk “But I might come back for the DLC though.”

“Eh? I always wondered what it’ll be about.”

“The protagonist gets a sidekick,” Shin replied “Or so I heard.”

“That’s too much on a DLC, just make it a sequel.”

“It’ll be the same game again, except you have dead weight.”

“Respect sidekicks.” Daisuke shrugged as he slid the game inside his backpack.

Shin let out a sweat drop before scratching his head “Ah my bad since you relate to them.”

Daisuke’s eyebrows twitched at that statement, he’d been stereotyped on many occasions due to his height and glasses but this was one he couldn’t tolerate “Kill y-”

“Matsumoto-kun”

They were cut off by Ayaka who held a chalk piece in her hand, she squeezed it tightly until it became powder “When did you arrive?”

Shin’s lips twitched at the question, he was caught after all that. He turned to his seating partner who turned his head away with a look that said ‘I tried my best.’ which left the brunette stunned. He heard a snicker coming from the back of the class belonging to Haruto the class clown.

‘Oh…’ he was alone in this ‘it’s over’.

Secretly at the corner of the class, a short-haired blonde tomboy with green eyes looked at the drama unfold. She sighed as she brought out her phone and began listening to her rap playlist. Despite being the fourth member of the friend group, Junko didn’t want to get involved in any of Shin’s shenanigans (or Shin-anigans as Haruto jokingly referred to).

Ayaka asked again “I didn’t get your attendance so when did you show up Matsumoto-kun?”

“Uhh… I was asleep?” he thought deeply for an excuse before finally responding

“Hm? LIKE HELL I’LL BELIEVE THAT!” she chuckled before landing a fist on his head

“Shin!” Daisuke yelled out from his seat as the said boy collapsed from the playful but serious knock

“Why…” Shin muttered as he began seeing stars

“Don’t ask me that like you weren’t the one who told me to be smacking you anytime you have a few screws loose.”

“Even though don’t you think that was a bit too hard?” Daisuke commented

“Oh he’ll be fine,” the teacher waved at it “Hopefully.”

“You’ll kill him at this rate if this keeps up.” Haruto added “When doesn’t he have screws loose?”

“Say that to my face, you cheater!” Shin quickly recovered from the insult and yelled back

“Are you still salty over that match? And how the hell did you recover so fast?” Haruto yelled in shock

“Okay, that’s enough,” Ayaka smiled once more as she told them to maintain decorum before turning to Junko at the back “And please hand over that phone Hachibana-chan.”

“Or?” Junko Tachibana replied blankly making Ayaka’s eyebrows twitch in anger.

~Scroll of the Dead~

“Ahh, this is the worst!” Daisuke whined as he took a seat on the green couch in the teacher’s lounge

“Oi, don’t you dare complain like you’re doing anything ‘Mr. Supervisor’” Haruto interjected as he swept the floor.

It was currently 30 minutes since the school closing bell. All members of the friend group excluding Daisuke were sent to clean the teacher’s lounge as punishment for their various offenses in class.

“I didn’t do anything wrong though,” he whined “Except being so good I was asked to watch you guys.”

“Why you…” Haruto growled

“Sheesh Haruto, calm down you might end up popping a vessel” Shin added as he carried a crate of bottled water to the storeroom.

“You do realize we’re in this mess because of you.” Haruto replied

“Not exactly, considering Miss Rebel over here.” Shin pointed at Junko who stared in confusion as she was on the desk using her phone

“Ironic coming from you.” Daisuke replied before letting out a yawn

“I’ve changed for real.” Shin let out a smug grin as he dropped a crate before stepping out to get the next one

“If you say so Mr. Atheist”

Haruto earned the glares of Daisuke, he could notice the hint of anger showing on Daisuke’s face as he then realized what he said.

“I didn’t mean-”

“Hehe”

The members of the friend group heard a chuckle from Shin, leaving them startled.

‘EH?’ Daisuke blinked. He didn’t like being mocked over his beliefs, so what was the change of heart now?

“That day is coming up, isn’t it?” Junko spoke up

“Eh, what day?” Shin asked trying to feign ignorance

“Don’t play dumb with me.” she now let on a serious look “12 months since he passed away.”

Shin bit his lip, there was no use trying to fake it since she was the smartest out of all of them. Daisuke’s intelligence only went as far as academics and random knowledge but Junko had the superior IQ.

So he replied, “Yeah, so what?”

She stood up before approaching him and looked him in the eye. The atmosphere in the room felt tense as Daisuke began sweating. He looked back at Haruto who shook his head as if he was saying ‘He’s in for it now.’

“So how long,” she began “Do you think you can put up this act?”

Shin looked down as he refused to answer the question.

“Answer me!”

“Oi Junko-” Daisuke stood up from his seat to support him before earning a death-piercing glare from Junko

“Stay out of this,” she said before turning back “How long will you keep trying to act all independent and childish?”

“I’m not,” He replied without looking up

“Last time it was you rebelling against your mom and nearly got you killed if I recall correctly, now it’s you acting like the ideals you once followed are trash because he’s not here anymore to give you a pat on the head.”

This made Shin recall an incident that happened a month after his father’s death, he did terrible things and was an awful person to his family. One thing led to another and he suddenly found himself amid a gangster group where he would have been murdered during their raid if not for the intervention of the police. But that was a story for another time.

“It’s not an act-” Shin tried to speak up

“Like hell it isn’t, a sad excuse to try and act all tough while the people who love you constantly worry about you.” She paused to take a quick breath “You’re not perfect Shin, no human is.”

His blue eyes widened at those words, “Human huh?” he sighed before chuckling. Shin Matsumoto was against bullying and didn’t like to be picked on. So why couldn’t he fight back? Could it be that she’s telling the truth?

“Just…” Junko bit her lip before turning away “Just- try not to be immature, you’re lucky to have people who care.”

Shin stared for a brief moment before a smile formed on his face “Yeah I’ll do that.”

“Would you look at that, four O’clock.” Haruto quickly added to avoid further discord

Daisuke looked in confusion before catching the memo “Uh yeah right, why don’t we head over to the arcade and-”

“It’s okay, I’m not bearing any grudges,” Junko smiled “Right Shin?”

“Eh? Of course not.” he laughed as the mood finally settled with the other men sighing in relief.