"I spoke to Chibiki-Sensei this morning to ask him what the school was thinking, sending us out of town when this calamity is still lurking," Clarissa told me, their arms crossed as they snarled angrily at Chibiki-Sensei.
Just then Akira came up to us, rubbing his hands together, trying to keep them warm.
"You two ladies okay?" He asked. He looked at Clarissa. "Lady and companion, I should say."
"I hope so, Akira-kun," Clarissa sighed, adjusting their glasses slightly. "I just hope nothing happens to any of our class members whilst we're trying to leave town."
"Clarissa-chan, once we get out of town, the curse won't be able to hurt us." Akira gently placed his hand on Charisse's arm. "It's just the getting out of town part which is the trickiest."
"But if anything bad happens, it will be my fault," Charisse whispered, looking down. "It's going to be on my conscious... I'm the head of countermeasures..."
"Clarissa-chan, you can't be blamed for anything that happens, you can't control the calamity."
"Okay, head count, please!" Chibiki-Sensei called out.
We all crowded around, and Chibiki-Sensei took the register. He frowned when he reached Ai's name, and looked out.
"Is Matsuda-san still in the bathroom with Sakurai-san?"
"Yes," Ran groaned. "Those two had better not make us late."
"Ai-chan can't help feeling sick," Cho told Ran.
"Ai-chan feels sick?" I asked.
Cho turned to face me. "Yes, Ai-chan gets terrible travel sickness. Even the THOUGHT of a motor vehicle can get her throwing up."
Just as Chibiki-Sensei finished taking the register, Ai and Yuki appeared. Ai looked a little green, her hands over her forehead.
"Are you feeling any better, Matsura-san?" Chibiki-Sensei asked.
"She's worried that if she opens her mouth she'll be sick again," Yuki told everyone.
Ai nodded, pointing to her mouth, which was remaining clamped shut.
"Well, Matsura can sit at the front, and everyone else can get into pairs and make your way to the minibus."
So I was sat next to Riku, Clarissa and Akira were to our right.
"Let us all pray," Jiro said in a hushed voice, clasping his hands together.
"God isn't going to help us in this situation," Hirohito yelled, scoffing.
"Have a little faith," Jiro closed his eyes and muttering under his breath.
Makoto, who had brought a reading book out of his bag, glanced over at Jiro. "This book I've been reading about holds a lot of religious factors—"
"Anyone want candy?" Yemon produced a paper bag from his pocket.
"How can you eat candy at a time like this?" Yasuo asked.
"If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die happy," Yemon explained briefly, producing a sweet in a purple wrapper.
Akira spun around in his chair, glaring at Yemon. "Be quiet! Have some respect!"
Clarissa turned to face me. Since Riku and Akira were sat by the windows, Clarissa and I could talk easier.
"We'll be okay," I tried not to show my paranoia. But in truth, I was terrified. What is something happened to one of us, and Auntie Mai believed it was her fault? I didn't want anyone to die...
"I hope so," Clarissa whispered. "I really hope so."
I reached out my hand. Clarissa looked at my outstretched hand, smiled sadly, and placed their hand on top of mine. Their hand was warm.
There was a hushed silence as the minibus drove through the town, up the mountain side and around the mountain road. The sun was shining brightly, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
I could feel my heartbeat's pace quickening, and Clarissa ended up gripping my hand so tightly I felt like the blood circulation was being cut off.
"Three... Two... One..."
I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for a loud bang, or a crash...
"Tsuki-san..." Riku whispered to my left.
I hesitantly opened one eye, to find the minibus still driving.
"We... We made it..." Clarissa gasped. Then they smiled the biggest smile ever seen. "We made it!"
The minibus burst into a huge cheer. We applauded, and Yemon passed around his sweets in celebration. I picked out a sweet with an orange wrapper, Riku got yellow, Charisse got green, and Akira got pink. Yuki whipped out her playing cards and was playing a heated game of Happy Families with Cho, Ran, and Hirohito. Makoto continued to read his book and Yasuo produced his walkman, whilst Jiro was mumbling contently about the power of prayer and meditation. Meanwhile, Ai was taking a nap at the front of the bus.
I was so relieved. We were out of Yomiyama. The calamity couldn't get near us whilst we were out of town. For one day, we were all safe.
*****
The museum was a castle made out of dark stone, had large tinted windows; a modern feature, and was guarded by a tall spiralled gate, and there was a huge driveway circling a white marble fountain. Grassed areas around the front were bordered by flower beds, and trees at either side of the building.
We all made our way off the minibus. Ai still looked a little pale, but promised that she felt much better now that she was out of the vehicle.
There was a man and a woman waiting for us by the main entrance, both wearing black suits. The woman also had her hair in a tight bun, and the man had no hair at all.
"Good morning!" The man greeted us.
Chibiki-Sensei nodded. "Good morning. Thank you for arranging this school field day."
"And thank YOU for coming!" The man beamed.
The woman addressed us students. "This is the museum inspired by the western castles and Royal families. Our artifacts and displayed items are genuine. We ask that you do not touch the things on display, but you are more than welcome to go to the giftshop at the end of the tour. We will also have a lunch break, and we will sit outside if the weather permits."
We were all lead into the next room, and I immediately felt like I had travelled back in time, halfway across the world. I remember pictures that my father used to show me of old fashioned western ways of living. I would have given anything for my father to have been with me.
The walls were golden, and there were red rugs laced with golden swirls and lining, which matched so well with the large golden pots and ornaments all around the room. The long wooden table was banqueted with fake plastic food (which probably weren't genuine artifacts), on the chairs mannequins were seated dressed as a Royal family, as well as some mannequins dressed as chefs, butlers, and waiters.
The woman began to explain to us about the origin of the home interior in the western civilisation and how they worked things differently compared to Japan. I didn't end up paying much attention. I was just in so much awe and completely mesmerised of everything around me.
"That woman said that all these artifacts were genuine," Hirohito whispered. "But I bet that's a lie."
Ran, who was stood next to Hirohito, nodded. "Yeah, maybe the artifacts are INSPIRED by western stuff, but I bet that all this stuff was made much later."
"I'm bored already," Akira sighed. "They should have at least taken us to an INTERESTING museum, like war, or dinosaurs, or something like that!"
"Shut up and pay attention," Clarissa hissed.
The next room we were lead into was a room full of clothes behind glass cases. We saw a king and a queen together. The king was wearing a red cotton jacket with golden butrons around down the front, black trousers, and a sash full of golden medals, whilst the queen wore a cream dress laced with gold around the collar, sleeves and hem of the skirt.
We saw models of the maids outfits; black dresses with white aprons and mop caps, as well as more butlers in black suits, wedding outfits, princes and princesses, horse riding gear, and coronation dresses.
Of course looking around the rooms was interesting and I enjoyed the costumes, there hadn't been anything in particularly which meant that the museum trip was going to be a day I'd never forget. Plus, I had no idea how this was going to help my history work at school, since in lessons we were currently learning about the Meji Period and the Iwakura mission.
We were lead outside to a large picnic area where we were able to eat our lunch. I sat next to Riku, and Clarissa and Akira were opposite us.
"I want to go home and sleep," Akira sighed, after we prayed for our food.
"Honestly, me too," Riku nodded. "I didn't even want to come on this school trip."
"Well, at least we've been out of town for a day," Clarissa said brightly.
I nodded. "We haven't had to worry for our lives. Everyone looks happy."
Akira smiled. "I guess you're right. We've been able to escape the class 3-3 calamity for a day. We should be thankful."
"Look at that!" Clarissa nodded to a nearby window on the second floor. We all looked, and saw two figures carrying a heavy looking wardrobe.
"Are they redesigning?" I wondered.
"Apparently this museum has a bad reputation, and has been losing a lot of money," Clarissa said.
"Geez, I wonder why," Akira mumbled sarcastically. "I hope there's a suggestion box at the end."
"I can't help agree," Riku said. "Why did Chibiki-Sensei think that this kind of museum would be interesting to us?! Oh God, we'd better not have to write an essay on this trip!"
The afternoon seemed a little more relaxed. We were allowed to split off into our own little groups and wander around the second floor by ourselves. So me, Clarissa, Akira, Riku, Yuki and Ai all went around together.
"How are you feeling, Ai-chan?" I asked.
"Ai-chan is feeling a little better! Ai-chan's head still throbs a little, though."
"Have you had plenty to drink and eat?" Clarissa asked.
"Ai-chan is well hydrated and refreshed, thank you!" Ai beamed.
"Maybe you just need a nap," Riku suggested.
As if on cue, Ai stiffled a yawn. "Riku-kun may be right!"
I looked down the corridor and saw Hirohito, Ran and Cho. They were messing around with a yellow sign stood by a stair case. When they saw us approaching, Hirohito took off first, and the girls followed.
"Did you see that?" I asked.
"See what?" Yuki asked me.
"Hirohito, Ran and Cho?" Riku pointed. "Yeah, I saw them. What were they doing with that sign?"
I hurried up to the sign and took a look. In large symbols, it read "WARNING - DO NOT ENTER."
"So we aren't allowed up this staircase?" I motioned to the stairs, which were also blocked off with a red rope.
"Let's go up another one then," Akira clasped his hands together and rubbed them. "Because we all obviously can't WAIT to learn more about western—"
"Shut up!" Clarissa pretended to swat Akira.
I couldn't help laughing. "I can't tell whether you two like or hate each other!"
"Oh, Clarissa-chan and I are the BEST of friends!!" Akira said smugly and loudly. "I even recall Clarissa-chan promising to be my wife if I couldn't find another girl—"
I gasped and locked eyes with Clarissa. My eyes grew round, and I couldn't help grinning. "You did?!"
Clarissa face turned redder than a tomato. They fumbled over their words, before folding their arms and facing the other way. "N-No I- di-didn't!"
"I've never seen Clarissa-san so flustered," Yuki grinned.
"It's my charming and devilish looks," Akira explained modestly.
Clarissa scoffed. "No it isn't!"
"Must be my personality then," Akira winked at me. "Clarissa-chan, don't be so embarrassed," Akira patted their arm reassuringly. "We're all friends here, you can trust us with your secrets."
"Shut up!! God, why are boys so annoying?!" Charisse rolled their eyes and stormed off down the corridor. I made sure to catch up with them, and everyone else followed on.
We found another staircase, the golden handrails intricately detailed with flowers and crowns, and topped with smooth red velvet. We checked to make sure nobody was about, before we all raced to the top. The stairs creeked and wobbled, but we made it to the top with no trouble. But Ai had one hand on her head, and the other on her stomach. She looked very pale, and kept rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.
"Guys," Yuki said, turning to face us. "Ai-chan doesn't feel well."
"Ai-chan was feeling much better," Ai managed weakly. "But now Ai-chan's head is hurting and tummy is churning."
"I'm gonna take her to get some fresh air," Yuki told us. "Come on." Yuki gently took Ai's arm and steered her towards the door.
We all followed. I didn't want to say it, but I had a feeling we were all thinking the same thing...
It was Riku who finally spoke up, whispering, "Is this the calamity?"
"It can't be," Akira shook his head. "We're not in Yomiyama. The curse should have no power here."
"We just need to find Chibiki-Sensei and Auntie Mai as soon as possible."
We headed back to the staircase to find two men walking up them, carefully balancing a huge, thick table between them. The men stopped their journey up the stairs so we could slip past them quickly. The stairs creaked loudly underneath our feet.
The man who had lead our tour suddenly materialised, Chibiki-Sensei by his side. The man froze in his tracks when he saw us all.
"What's going in here?" He cried. "Students, get away from those stairs! And you two!" He motioned to the workers. "Get that table off those stairs as quickly as possible!"
"Why?" Yuki asked, who was still halfway down the stairs with Ai.
"These stairs were blocked off!" The mam explained hurriedly, his face turning pale with worry. "There was a sign here blocking these stairs off!"
"Sir, the stairs down the hall are the ones blocked off," one of the men holding the table said.
"These stairs are unsafe!" The man said. "They could collapse at any minute! You need—"
But his sentence was cut off by a massive creaking noise. The stairs began to shake and tremble. Ai collapsed into Yuki's arms, her legs finally trembling .
"Leave the table and run!"
The men did as they had been ordered, dropping the table and sprinting to the top of the stairs. Yuki and Ai hurriedly began making their way towards us, but the stairs were crumbling under their feet with every second.
"YUKI!!! AI!!!"
I felt Riku grabbed my arms and pull me to the back wall, and I saw Akira do the same to Clarissa, who was yelling out in panic and trying to run towards their childhood friends.
There was a huge bellow of smoke and dust rising into the air. We all had to cover our faces with our hands so we didn't breath any of it in. I could hear a scream, and a huge bang as the stairs collapsed.
There was ten seconds of pure silence, before Charisse's gasp and crying told me that it was okay for me to open my eyes.
And I honestly wish that I had kept them closed. The staircase had collapsed - every step demolished, the broken pieces forming one huge pile of danger. There were huge pieces of wood and stone springing out of the mess in all different directions. The table had been crushed beyond repair.
Yuki was laying on the ground in front of us. Alone. There was a large cut on the right side of her forehead. She groaned a little, blinking slowly, trying to collect her strength and thoughts.
"Yuki... Where's... Where's Ai?"
Yuki's eyed widened with panic and she spun around, taking in the demolished stair case.
"No...." Yuki whispered, her voice breaking. "NO!!!!"
Yuki scrambled towards the staircase, but Akira grabbed her and held her back. Charisse began to cry, and I could feel my own heart breaking and tears forming in my eyes.
There was nothing we could do. Ai wouldn't be able to hear us.