During the past week, the feeling of nostalgia that I often latched onto for my imagination has turned into this uneasy feeling of my stomach that still crept up to my body.

I’ve learnt not to regret too much, yet with the amount of times I’ve been staring out at the window, I can’t help but replay the same feeling over and over until I get sick of it.

While staring at the window, I heard a small knock on my door.

“Come in” I wore my blazer.

“Morning Ryu-san” Yuuri opened the door, “What are you up to?”

“Just watching a movie I downloaded”

“Ooh, what movie?”

“28… something… I can’t read other languages”

I’ll admit, all of these Indonesian dubbed names and subtitles were starting to annoy me at this point. However, Yuuri showed interest.

“Should I try watching it?”

“It’s probably not for your tastes” I leaned back, “I’m only watching it for the sake of learning but I can’t take anymore of this graphic violence”

Yuuri gave a short nod.

“What else have you watched?”

“I have no idea… half of them are titled in another foreign language when I downloaded it. I can’t tell what it is though”

It was my first time downloading movies, since it’s not like computer malware would impact me by the second day of the outbreak.

“Is this how you spend your time during the morning?”

“Only when I feel like it”

“You can’t just sit here all morning, let’s get going”

“Sure” I got up from my chair, grabbing my school blazer, “Perhaps some preparation for lunch?”

“Mhm!” Yuuri smiled, “Something better to do”

Yuuri seemed to drag me towards the Clubroom with a smile over her face.

However, with clouds obscuring much of the daylight, it was impossible to even have a brief second of electricity. So we spent much of our early morning creating biscuits without much to exchange.

“Good morning!” Yuki swung the door open, “Ooh, what are you two doing?”

“Just cooking some food for the day since there’s some maintenance going on and the lights are off for the day”

“Aww… will it last long?”

“Hopefully they’ll finish fixing the electricity by the afternoon but Sensei may have allow us to have independent study in the meantime”

If it weren’t for the fact that I had thought about creating a lie regarding the outage while talking with Yuki, I might’ve fumbled with her delusions.

“Perhaps we could study together!”

“What made you so enthusiastic about studying?” I placed my bowl at the counter.

“I need your help with some social studies homework or else Megu-nee will be upset”

“Sure, we can work on that”

“Don’t forget about your math homework you two” Yuuri chimed in.

I couldn’t help but notice that she was emitting a rather menacing presence behind me.

“Can I do it later?”

“You’re quite overdue with it” Her presence continued, “It wouldn’t hurt, right?”

The fact that Yuki had a terrified look in front of me prevented me from bothering to glance back.

“If you say so…”

“Great!” Yuuri reached for her textbook, “I’ll ask you if I need any help”

“Thank you Ryu-san!” Yuki hugged me, “I was worried that I’ll have to stay back in class with Megu-nee to handle the homework”

“No problem…” I slowly stood up, “Let’s get some work to done”

“Yup!” Yuki responded cheerfully.

I would’ve tried helping Yuki with the work, but the fact that Yuuri had pressed me into tending to my Maths homework was quite meek of me.

“Can I ask where you’re up to in the book?”

“So…” Yuki flipped through her textbook before placing her hand over it, “I’m up to here right now”

Yuki’s doing a chapter that isn’t even in the curriculum… I’m not even familiar with it.

“Quite the odd transition from Hokkaido”

“I can’t believe that the textbook has actual knowledge over Megurigaoka!” Yuki looked at the pages with a bright face.

“Perhaps if someone here did something famous, our place in the history books wouldn’t be as small as it is right now”

Yuki gave a puzzled look.

“How so?”

“Perhaps become an athlete, a renowned comedian, or develop some sort of cure. Megurigaoka isn’t really renowned for much anyways”

“Ooh! Perhaps we could try becoming teachers!”

“Teachers usually don’t get famous… unless you do something cool in front of social media”

“Well, why can’t we try? Megu-nee could join in”

Just because adults do something a kid would do doesn’t warrant becoming famous… that’s what I’ve learnt while scrolling on my phone.

“Well, maybe we could send a message to the world,” Yuuri grabbed her phone, “Perhaps we can get some likes if we do a skit or a showcase of our club!”

“Are you seriously recommending me to be on camera for the world to see?” I smirked for a moment.

Yuki nodded.

“I’ll pass” I looked over at the textbook, “Anyways, let’s start from the Showa Period”

I have a sort of disapproval everytime I think about social media. It tends to be a tool that people use in order to communicate and keep in contact, especially when we are stuck in our homes.

But during my first year, I realized that social media was a weapon. A tool used to tear others up. I saw it first hand.

Despite having a short study session with Yuki, while taking up some of the free time to go through the questions, I noticed Kurumi’s head sticking out from the door.

“Good morning Kurumi-san” I lowered my pen.

“Morning Kurumi!” Yuki waved.

“Mornin” Kurumi gave a smirk, “It’s funny seeing you two sit next to each other. Makes me think that Ryu is like Megu-nee”

“Speaking of Megu-nee,” Yuuri asked, “Where is she?”

“Probably at the Teacher’s lounge” Yuki took a glance at one of the questions, “Ryu-kun, can you please help me with this?”

“Sure!” I looked over at the book, “This is drawing on what you learnt in the last chapter. Do you remember what it is?”

“Errr….” Yuki paused, “Nope”

Kurumi walked over towards the textbook, taking a glance at the pages.

“You’re quite cruel y’know Ryu?” Kurumi chuckled, “Why would you throw

“Sensei assigned Yuki this chapter” I responded.

Take a hint…

“Eh? I didn’t know we were given this chapter. I thought we stopped at the Taisho Period”

“What do you mean Kurumi?” Yuki looked over with a smile, “We’ve been doing Showa…”

“Showa?”

I nodded in response.

“Eh, I don’t think so…” Kurumi placed her hand over the pages.

From what I could tell, Yuki gave me that look reminiscent of everytime Yuzumura reminded her of homework. She couldn’t tell exactly which subject she was referring to.

“We were meant to finish Taisho a month ago but…”

“I hate to interrupt you” I clicked my pen a few times, “But what do you mean a month ago? We’ve already finished it”

From her expression, I could already tell that I’ve played my only card.

“Ah… yeah” She looked away for a second, “My bad Yuki”

“It’s no big deal!” Yuki responded with her usual smile, “Perhaps we should have some breakfast before we forget our names!”

By now, I noticed Yuuri was giving me an intrigued expression.

“What’s up?”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Nothing…” She looked away, “Can I ask you something outside the clubroom later on?”

“Let’s do it now then. After all, it’d be best to have more time for lunch”

“Sure” Yuuri placed the bowl at the counter, “C’mon”

“I’ll be back Yuki” I patted on her hat, “Try to get that question done in the meantime”

“Will do Pres!”

As I walked out, Yuuri had that sort of ‘insightful’ look as if she had discovered something new about me. Something different.

“I assume you’re impressed over something?” I smiled.

“Why wouldn’t I? You seem more capable than what I’ve seen”

I was assuming something else.

“I’m not the best at it anyways” I waved my hand dismissively, “Can I ask what do you mean?”

“The way you looked when talking to Kurumi… it was… interesting”

“How so?”

“It felt threatening yet at the same time calm”

“Don’t you do something similar to Yuki and Kurumi?”

“Well yeah, but where did you get that from? From what you told me, you were the only child of your family”

“Your ‘aura’ that you emit and mine is the way you emit it is dependent on your authority and voice. Perhaps your experience with your sibling is how you got that sort of atmosphere.

Yuuri seemed to fiddle around for a moment when I mentioned ‘sibling’.

“Yeah…” Yuuri raised an eyebrow for a moment, “Wait, but how did you emit such a thing?”

“I don’t study auras in a spiritual-like way, but in a more watered down way based on how they look on the outside. Just take a wild guess on how I emitted it”

“Well… you do seem like you’re hiding something from everyone around you. Perhaps that could be the case?”

Her prediction was spot on.

“That’s a weird way of seeing it” I gave out a smirk, “Despite our limited interactions, I don’t remember hiding anything from you”

“You were quite different during the first year. Rumors even spread about what happened in that festival and how you regressed during the second and third years. About that warehouse incident”

“Why would you trust a rumor?”

“Well... Nevermind” Yuuri looked at the door, “Anyways, I do hope I could use it to keep Yuki and Kurumi from fooling around a lot”

“Mhm” I gave a short nod, “Can you promise me one thing though?”

“Sure!” Yuuri smiled, “What is it?”

“...Never mind”

“Hm? Why’s that?”

“I was going to ask you something. But it kinda sounded selfish so I decided to hold back for now”

Before Yuuri could say anything, a loud thump followed from inside the clubroom, followed by Yuki laughing.

“Great…” Yuuri walked over towards the door.

We were met by a flurry of paper airplanes which managed to pass by us or hit the nearby wall.

“Catch this!” Yuki called out while throwing a paper airplane at Kurumi.

“Not if I–” A paper airplane bumped onto Kurumi’s hair, “Ah!”

Yuki and Kurumi were fooling around the room as usual, with a dozen paper airplanes scattered from the table to the kitchen.

“You two…” Yuuri muttered.

I decided to leave the room in the meantime.

There was no doubt Yuuri was quite the older sister of the family. Yet, I had noticed that she had always looked uncomfortable every time I asked about her sibling.

It didn’t matter at this point. All I have to do is to ensure she doesn’t feel that way.

“Everything alright?” I walked back in, “Thought I forgot something”

“Ah, Ryu-san” Yuuri turned over with a smile over her face, “Nothing much has happened”

Yuki and Kurumi were sitting at the table, their faces indicating that my wait outside was the best move I could make.

“That’s quite extreme, hm?” I asked Yuuri as I picked up a few paper airplanes on the ground.

“Yeah” The lights started to flicker back on again, “Seems we’ll be making lunch soon”

I nodded in agreement, only to notice Kurumi looking at me with a pouty face.

“Yuki-chan, Kurumi, would you like to move to the nearby classroom to do your homework? Ryu and I have some things to do”

“Kay, let’s go” Kurumi nudged Yuki by the shoulder.

“See you soon!” Yuki waved her hand towards me as she left the room.

“So” Yuuri turned towards the pot, “What do you think we should make?”

“Perhaps we could create some Onigiri?”

Why did I suggest that? If I asked to make some Mochi cakes, it’d be way more convenient…

“Sure! After what we got from Yuki-chan’s test of courage, we got some ingredients for it”

Conveniently enough, Yuuri had all of the ingredients at the cabinets where we stored most of our gains during the test of courage.

We didn’t talk much for the first thirty minutes. Yuuri tended to her logistics book while I mindlessly stared outside.

I had started to yawn while watching the field for about the hundredth time. By then, I had only realized that Yuuri had an intrigued look over her face as she watched me.

“Isn’t there something better you could do?” Yuuri asked.

“Probably not”

“Perhaps you could help me with the logistics book?”

I had only taken a glance at Yuuri’s book during her question, before I noticed she was struggling to see what she could ration over the month.

“Seems we don’t have enough for the month, hm?” I sat close to her.

“I was hoping what we got from the test could last for a while”

“Perhaps we could push for another one… actually, nevermind”

The rainy season has come early and I didn’t want another incident.

“Well, we could try rationing further but we may end up starving ourselves”

“Tell me Yuuri, we’re in March, correct?”

“Of course”

“I’m willing to bet the rain will end by the start of April”

“That’s quite a guess. But what if you’re wrong?”

“We could hold up from doing anything rash in the meantime. I could take up this time to teach Kurumi some skills and perhaps work together?”

“You seem to know much yet so little at the same time when it comes to fighting. Did you learn some sort of martial arts?”

“Just karate. I quit after the first year of High School”

Yuuri’s curiosity had started to tick me off yet impress me at the same time. There was a reason why though, and I couldn’t blame her.

“Anyways, I’ll get working on the next batch”

“Hold on” Yuuri tapped on my shoulder, “I almost forgot about this”

Yuuri opened a small cabinet, revealing piles of rice bags and seaweed packets stashed close together in reserve.

“Me too”

“We should thank Yuki for that”

“Maybe later…” My eyes wandered towards the window for a second, “Would you have pushed us to do an expedition outside regardless of if Yuki gave that idea at first?”

Yuuri paused, before shrugging her shoulders in response.

“I’m not as ambitious as Yuki, but do you know why I accepted it?”

“You wanted to keep her illusion intact, didn’t you?” I gave a smirk as I placed the rice bowl on the plate.

“Of course… I also found it thrilling” Yuuri smiled, “Can I ask how you usually play along with Yuki’s delusions?”

A weird question, but considering Yuuri’s character, it didn’t seem out of place.

“It’s a bit complicated, but it requires a lot of memory. Including remembering the students in your class, their personalities, their likes, how they respond to certain things. Also I have to make up a lot of lies and keep myself attentive to Yuki”

“Wow… is that all?”

“And a lot of luck”

“Huh, no wonder why you seemed tired out all day”

I reached for some Onigiri wrappers, placing them over each ball of rice I had formed out of my hands. It especially wasn’t as easy as I expected, yet with Yuuri’s constant guidance, I felt at ease in the meantime.

“I always get tired to be honest. Mostly due to my role”

“It’s hard to understand how you and the Vice President managed to stay in school until the evening. Not to mention the festivals”

“It requires a bit of responsibility. But some things require more of it than others. Hence why it’s a choice you make if you were to become the School President”

“Do you talk from experience or just common advice?” She leaned towards me.

“Just experience”

“No offense, but I never took you for the type of conflict resolution despite your personality”

“I get that a lot” I shrugged, “Can’t be the best. But perhaps you can fit the bill, Yuuri”

Yuuri paused in her tracks, followed by a small giggle.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Of course not” She took a quick glance at my plate, “Let’s not get distracted or else Yuki would be starving”

Eventually, lunch was settled on Onigiri rather than a batch of leftover biscuits which we decided to keep as a snack.

Rain had started to pour down at the field, which created a calm atmosphere contrary to months before where the cafeteria would be filled with constant chatter by restless students.

Yet I kept close to the window.

“Thank you for the meal!” Everyone called out.

“Wow, quite the improvement from last time” Kurumi munched on an Onigiri.

I had kept my face fixated on the window, ignoring the compliment.

“Perhaps you should try cooking some more” Yuuri nudged my shoulder, “You’ll get better”

“Perhaps tomorrow we can do that?”

“Sure!”

“Unfortunately, there is a blackout throughout the school for the remainder of the day” Sakura reached for an Onigiri.

“I love blackouts though, it’s somewhat exciting” Yuki munched on another Onigiri

“We have electric shows, you know?” Kurumi turned over.

“Eh?”

“We won’t have any hot water”

Yuki recoiled back in shock, her head almost fixated at the roof as if her realization meant it was over for her.

I couldn’t help but smirk watching it unfold.

“You ok?” Kurumi placed her hand over Yuki’s shoulder.

She leapt up from her chair, planting her hand on the table.

“Camping!”

Not the best of her ideas…

“Camping?” Everybody else responded.

“Look, um, people go camping on a field trip, right? Since we are the School Life Club, we should be camping at school”

“You’re right. Camping doesn’t require any electricity” Kurumi shifted over to the side.

“Right. Doesn’t that sound like a great idea?” Sakura’s face lit up.

“Do we have a tent?’

“We should have one in the club room. I think it houses three people” Yuuri lowered her cup.

“Looks like me and Sensei are missing out?” I turned towards the table.

“Well, it’d be pretty boring if you were sleeping in a tent on your own,” Kurumi grabbed onto her shovel, “Especially since you’re the only guy here”

“Well, I suppose it would be terrifying sleeping alone in a tent. Even if I do have neighbors” I took a glance outside, “Although I haven’t had any camping experience yet so take it for a grain of salt”

“How come you’ve never gone camping before?” Yuki looked at me.

“I never had time for such” I leaned back.

“Well, it’ll be the first time for you then!”

“Perhaps we should have a small bonfire at night?”

“Yep!” Yuki stood up from her table again, “It is decided! The four of us will have a camping trip!”

“Ah, what about me?” Sakura looked around the group.

“I-it’s okay” Yuki responded, “If we jam ourselves in, I’m sure we can fit you in, Megu-nee”

“I’m sorry” Yuuri turned, I didn’t mean to-”

“I was kidding. I need to go make my rounds at any rate” Sakura turned over with a smile.

I noticed Yuki staring at the table for a moment, before gently grabbing onto her hand.

“Megu-nee, thank you for everything” Yuki emitted her usual smile.

“Thank you Sensei” I shifted my gaze towards her.

“Thanks Megu-nee” Kurumi and Yuuri followed suit.

“Geez, it’s not Megu-nee. Call me Sakura-sensei”

I had found myself smirking at the moment. Not specifically about the zombies wandering around the field, rather to what was right beside me.

It was quite an odd feeling. As if the storm of thoughts that constantly came through my mind had calmed itself. The thought of wording myself properly in front of Yuki or noticing Kurumi’s concerned expression or even the field had just disappeared in the moment.

It felt pleasant for once.