We were on a school trip when it happened.
The teacher was talking about the zodiac test exam. And the next minute he was gone. There. Gone. No "poof". No flash of light. No explosion. Just gone.
Karuizawa Kei who was sitting a little bit further away from the three, was staring blankly at a chair-the exact chair that Mashima-sensei had previously occupied.
For a moment, everyone in the room thought that they had imagined it, the teacher disappearance. For a moment, they thought that they might had slipped into a daydream.
Panicking, Karuizawa Kei then immediately turned to the closest person she can see, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who sat just a little bit on her left. "H-Hey, you saw that, right?"
Asked Karuizawa ignoring the fact that she had spoken to a boy she typically didn't engage with, the boy she had questioned remained silent.
He was busy staring hard at the place where the teacher had been, various interpretations coming up to his mind such as why did their teacher disappeared and how. But of course, there is no way Karuizawa Kei would have know all this.
"Huh? where's Mashima-sensei?"
The others finally caught up to their senses.
The one who voiced the question was Yukimura Teruhiko, a classmate of mine with an average of height, gray hair, red eyes and round glasses. He possessed an excellent academic skill and often held a condescending attitude towards the rest of Class 1-D.
"I don't know, I've been asking the same question... I-I think Sensei must have left," Karuizawa said with a hint of anxiety lacing her voice, though it seemed she didn't truly believe on her own words.
Sotomura, an overweight first-year high school student with glasses, also referred to as "The Professor," interjected, saying, "Wrong, Karuizawa-san. Poof." He exclaimed, gesturing with his fingers as if trying to illustrate the concept of the situation.
Hearing this remark, the three of them exchanged glances, tilting their heads in various directions. They couldn't help but chuckle nervously, they find it ridiculous and funny that they even consider thinking on it in the first place.
"Seriously? Mashima-sensei poofed?" Yukimura exclaimed, suppressing a little chuckle from coming out on his voice. "As if I would believe that"
"...no use" someone uttered.
As if wanting to hear the others opinion, they all reflexively turned around and see their classmate Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who had been silent the entire time since their teacher's disappearance.
He appeared to be deep in thought, as he fixed his gaze on something as he absentmindedly fiddled with his phone.
"Ayanokouji-dono, if I may ask, what exactly are you doing?" Inquired Sotomura as his curiosity gets better into him.
Ayanokouji glanced up from his phone and replied calmly, "Oh, this? Nothing really. I was just trying to contact Chiyabashira-sensei in the hopes of getting some answers about this entire situation but it appears that the internet is down." He nonchalantly continued.
"H-huh?" Karuizawa stammered, her confusion is evident. "Why would the internet be out of service in a place like this? I mean, sure, we're literally in the middle of the sea, but isn't this ship government-funded? Shouldn't it be equipped with internet access, especially in case of emergencies?"
She voiced her perplexity, questioning the absence of an internet connection on a vessel that she assumed would have been well-prepared for such situations.
It seems like I have underestimated her ability to ask such a question, assuming that her appearance was the only notable aspect about her. It is clear now that she possesses more than just her physical attributes and has a thoughtful and inquisitive mind. it serves as a reminder not to judge others based solely on their looks, as there is often more to a person than meets the eye. But that's not what's important right now.
Silence envelopes the whole room as everyone slowly comprehend the absurdity of the situation, the jokingly atmosphere the room was previously wearing was now replaced with something uncomfortable and eerie.
As everyone anxiously hope for this situation to end, the door to the hallway suddenly cracked opened, capturing every single attention of the individuals in the room. Anticipation hung in the air, as everyone thought that Mashima-sensei would probably step in and explain how he pulled off this magic trick for everyone to see, and then get back to talking about the supposedly special test exam.
However, defying their expectations, it wasn't Mashima-sensei who walked through the door, but rather someone with whom they had recently become acquainted.
"Horikita-san?"
They exclaimed in unisons.
It was Horikita Suzune, The newly appointed leader of Class D.
Despite her notorious reputation for having a difficult personality, she had recently gained a significant level of recognition after coming up a plan to outsmart everyone making our class obtain the position of first place with a total of 225 points.
Or at least, that's what everyone believes.
"huff...puff.. Ayanokouji..." she says as she struggle to gasps for air
"Where's... your teacher?" she continued
There was a collective shrug.
"We don't know he just vanished," Sotomura chimed in, attempting to lighten the mood by making a joke. He wiggled his fingers in the air as if to imply some magical disappearance, hoping to elicit a laugh or two, but nobody laugh.
"Enough of this already, Isn't he just out in the hallway?" Yukimura asked agitatedly, hastily adjusting the glasses he's wearing, clearly showing signs of reaching his breaking point.
Horikita shook her head in disbelief. "No, if he were in the hallway, I would have encountered him by now," she explained. Pausing for a moment, she continued with a sense of unease in her voice. "Something strange is happening. Just a minute ago, I was having a conversation with Chiyabashira-sensei, and out of nowhere, she suddenly just vanished into thin air. At first, I was bewildered and panicked, I simply didn't understand what is going on, I desperately search for any sign of her whereabouts. But that's when I noticed it..." She paused taking a big deep breath, whatever she's about to say I got a feeling that it's something not pleasant.
"What?" Karuizawa snapped her fingers repeatedly, clearly impatient "What did you notice?" she demanded.
"The teachers. No. The whole school staff disappeared...
There's not a single trace that can be seen as to where could they be..."
She looked incredibly calm as she explained the situation but if one look closely enough, you can see that the current expression Horikita Suzune now is wearing is largely different to what it usually was, her gaze wasn't challenging, stern and skeptical as usual, her expression was a mixture of one that is both bewildered and scared.
Her normally sharp, red gladiant eyes were wide, with too much white showing.
"They're all gone," she whispered, her voice tinged with disbelief. "They all just... disappeared
"Gone?" Karuizawa asked, her initial reaction bordering on disbelief. It seems that she was about to utter something between the lines of "Excuse me?" Or "Do you even understand what you're saying right now?" but quickly caught herself, realizing that Horikita was not the type to make such jokes or fabricate such situations.
"Poof..." Sotumura said, not giggling as much now, starting to think that maybe it wasn't a joke after all.
Ayanokouji noticed a sound. More than one, really. Distant sirens sounds, coming from the deck of the ship, indicating that something truly is going on. He stood up, feeling self-conscious like it wasn't really his place to do so, and walked calmy to the door. Horikita moved away so he could step past her. He could smell the smell of her shampoo as he went by. However, in the midst of the current situation, Ayanokouji realized that it was not the time to dwell on such trivial thoughts.
"Where are you going?"
A clueless Karuizawa asked by
"To the teachers lounge. I figured that It's the best place to go, if we wanna know what's going on"
Ayanokouji walked towards the teacher's room. Horikita, Karuizawa, Yukimura and Sotomura were right behind him.
As they reached to the faculty's door, he knocked in the door three times, expecting a response. Realizing that they might not receive an immediate answer he then proceed to reach for the door handle.
As they entered the faculty room, the group was greeted by a scene of dissray. The faculty was messy. Piles of jumbled teaching materials were scattered on the floor, there was no signs of human being that can be found occupying the space.
On the chalkboard one could quite literally see the sentence "Zodiac test exam" that was written on it.
"They must be discussing something about the special test exam,"
Stated Yukimura
"Yeah, anyone could guess that," Karuizawa replied, her eyes rolling with annoyance.
"What's that?" Sotomura drew everyone's attention with a slight gesture, pointing at a piece of paper resting on the teacher's desk. Unlike the scattered materials around it, this particular paper stood out the most. Its placement suggested that someone had recently placed it there. As to what is the content inside, no one knows.
Ayanokouji reached for the letter and began unfolding it.
He firmly abides the philosophy of "let sleeping dogs lie" but his curiosity simply gets ahead of him,
thinking that maybe this letter must be connected to their current predicament that they're in.
Despite the potential risks, his curiosity pushed him to investigate further.
"................"
"Well? Well? What does it says?"
implored the impatient Karuizawa
"It's asking us to gather all of the students to the gymnasium"
Ayanokouji said as he finished reading the contents inside of the letter, he nonchalantly stuffed the letter into his pocket deflecting everyone's attention from it.
Yukimura expressed his concern, remarking, "this is not normal"
"The teachers, plus everyone in the school staff are gone."
Ayanokouji said
"That's definitely not normal"
Horikita was on the verge of making a retort, about to say, "The only thing that seems abnormal here is your face." as she observed Ayanokouji's unwavering poker face despite their unsettling circumstances.
Sotomura chimed in, his voice trembling slightly. "Y-yes, everything that's unfolding here is undeniably and incredibly bizarre. Okay, I'm ready to wake up from this surreal experience now." Despite his fondness for anime and related media, it seems evident that he still got some sanity's left on him as he can figure out what is fictional from reality.
The shaken Karuizawa ask "Did the letter even mentioned why it were asking us to gather all of the students and go there?"
"No, the letter didn't provide any explanation. However, considering the circumstances, it seems that we don't have any choice but to comply to find out what is happening,"
As if wrestling with conflicting thoughts in her mind, Horikita finally spoke up "I suppose you're right..."
"Enough chattering, let's go"
I have to admit that what I said wasn't entirely honest, but it wasn't a outright lie either. After understanding all the necessary information I have obtained, I finally understood what had to be presented in the gymnasium, and it's going ruin the very peaceful life I am trying to live in.
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