「ELEVEN :」
Kou Minamoto | Memory
──── ･ Despite knowing who the real owner is. None of us still dared to respond to the pink-haired boy with a business-like attire as he continues to float in the School President's Office.
"Woah. Did any of you even try to look at what's in this camera?" Mitsuba asked as he is still looking at whatever's in there. However, our attention was at my brother who was walking straight to him.
"The. Camera." Teru-nii said now his opened palm raised again as he looked up at Mitsuba. As if he was telling him to hand over the camera.
"But I'm still looking at it." Mitsuba pouted but he still slowly floats down. "Look! There's even a picture of you." He said then he showed my brother the camera. I even saw Teru-nii got confused and curious about it but he got over it quickly.
Wait. . .WHAT?
But before my brother can get back the camera. Shijima-san then took it. Now the annoyance in my brother's face is getting evident as we saw Shijima-san quickly stood beside me.
"Woah. The pictures here really are nice." I heard Shijima-san mumbled so I looked too since she's just near me. She's right. I even saw Akane-kun looked too.
"Told you. Whoever the owner is. Is a great photographer. But I'm still better. Mehehe." We heard Mitsuba said as he snickered. I also noticed at my peripheral vision that my brother just tiredly leaned at the front side of his desk. As if he's given up on disciplining our behavior.
"Oh! But you have different styles." I said when I realized something as I'm still staring at the different images from Yari-senpai's camera.
"What do you mean?" Mitsuba asked and now we noticed he's floating beside us.
"Well, didn't you told me you don't like taking a picture of humans or just anything with them?" I said.
"Well, except for that one pic." I heard him mumble something.
"Hmm?" I asked because I didn't heard it clearly. When I looked at him he just shrugged.
"Nothing. Continue." He said, referring to what I was talking about. So I continued talking.
"Well, unlike this photographer, I think its style is obviously the opposite of yours." Mitsuba still gave me a confused expression after I said that. I saw at my peripheral vision that Hanako-kun was now the one holding the camera and looking at what's in it.
"I mean, I guess the photographer mostly likes to capture scenarios instead of different things like what you prefer." I explained more and now I can clearly see in his expression that he's slowly understanding it. "That's why you saw my brother in that one pic earlier. Since it was an image of our school event or specifically our School Assembly while my brother is the acting speaker." I added.
"Oh~ I get it now." He said with his head nodding.
"Great---"
"Excuse me, is this the lost and found area?" We all frozed when we heard the same question again. However, it was with another different voice.
Slowly we all looked at the opened door. Even Mitsuba who was confused with what's happening looked too. Weird. This feels like deja vu.
When my vision reached the actual door, the curiosity in my system rose even more when we saw another girl.
But it wasn't her.
The girl was a bit taller than Yari-senpai. But the most noticable difference of her from Yari-senpai was that her hair color was light-beige and she had a pair of golden eyes. Who is she and what is she doing here?
"Yari Ishimiya, my cousin lost one of her belongings. And she mentioned that she went here yesterday. So I thought that maybe, her missing camera. . .could be here---"
She didn't get to finish what she was saying when my brother suddenly went towards her now with the camera already in his hands. Wait! woah! I didn't even notice that he took it from Hanako-kun.
"Here you go." The girl beamed when she saw the camera from my brother's hands and then she politely took it.
"Thank you, Mr. President." She thanked.
"Yes, you're welcome." My brother said as we all look at the girl who slowly disappears from our vision as she leaves completely.
Weird.
A minute of silence reigned in the whole room. Teru-nii was still standing at the doorway. While Akane-senpai, Shijima-san, and Mitsuba-kun were beside me. Hanako-kun was standing at the far south side of the office, almost infront of the President's desk. And Yashiro-senpai. . .
My gaze switched to Senpai. My eyes widened when I noticed that she was barely speaking when she got here. She was quiet the whole time--
"Do you know her, Pres.?" My thoughts got interrupted when I heard Akane-kun asked something. We all switched our gazes to my brother.
"I do. Her name is Futami Hanaki." Teru-nii responded. A few seconds passed again when we suddenly heard Mitsuba-kun say something.
"Wait a minute. . ." We all switched our visions to Mitsuba-kun when he said that, confusion written in his voice. "If she's her cousin--" He didn't get to finish his sentence when my brother spoke too.
"I'm confused too. . ." Now our visions switched to him. We saw him gripped the door frame tightly with his left hand. "If they're cousins, why is her surname Hanaki instead of. . .
Ishimiya?"
---
A few minutes later
"But what if they're cousins from their mother's side?" Akane-kun said breaking the long silence.
Finally! Someone talked about what happened a few minutes ago since everyone was so silent after that weird incident happened.
"You're probably right." Nii-san responded. Everyone here were even from the same positions as they were a few minutes ago. "And besides we shouldn't even think about this stuff too much. Everything's all right now, she even got her camera ba---"
"Tss."
Teru-nii didn't get to finish what he was saying when we all suddenly heard a sound. A sound that as if something was being stepped on. I felt nervousness rushed through my system and even got myself confused for not knowing why am I feeling this way.
Slowly each and one of us turned our heads to the only one at the south side of the room. Hanako-kun. Not caring about all of us looking at him, he stepped on a certain thing with more force, he even gritted his teeth. What is he stepping on?
My eyes suddenly widened when I realized what was the thing under his shoe. The curtains of the window swayed more as the wind suddenly became aggressive. Despite the merciless sound of that certain thing that was cracking and breaking. All of us shockingly looked at him when we saw that the certain thing he's now stepping on was. . .the SD card of Yari-senpai's camera.
"Honorable No. 7!---"
"That's Yari-senpai's SD card right---"
"WHAT'S WRONG?!!---"
"Why are you breaking it?---"
"HANAKO!!---"
All of us kept asking him questions yet afraid to go near him because of his grim aura. He mercilessly broke it even more as he didn't responded to any of us. And even. . .
"W-Why did you do that, Hanako-kun?"
Even Yashiro-senpai who was quite the whole time couldn't stop herself from asking. Her magenta orbs filled with nervousness and worry as The School Mystery No. 7 stood grimly infront of her with his back facing her yet still. . .
didn't answer her.
---
Yari Ishimya
A few minutes later
"Come on, Yari-san. Let's go home." I heard my cousin complained while watching me taking a picture of the sunset here in the Academy.
"I'm hungry~" Fumi-chan even added.
"Then go." I said, still my attention at what's I'm taking a picture of.
"Eh? But Yari-san~" I sighed. Then I switched my gaze at her. Her beige-locks swayed with the evening wind. And the slow darkening of the surrounding somehow illusionally made her golden orbs glow.
I then pointed my camera at her. I heard her complained again. But I ingnored her, as I fix the lenses of my camera, as I try to make it focus more on her irises.
"By the way, Yari-san." I heard her say, so I raised my head up as I lower my camera away from me. But she pointed at my camera. "Is the bottom part of your camera supposed to be opened like that?" She asked making me stilled.
My vision then focused at the the bottom part of the camera. I checked it carefully. Where is its SD card? I felt my eyebrows furrowed.
"My SD card is gone." I stated. I looked around and saw at my peripheral vision that my cousin stilled as she watches me. "I've been taking pictures and---" I sighed in frustration.
"Is it really that important?---"
"YES!" My cousin flinched at my response while my eyes kept switching from different places.
"Well then, we can look for it tommorow." She said, trying to calm me down.
"There's no lost and found, Fumi!" I sighed out of frustration again. I was about to run back to the buildings of the school when I felt her hug me from the back. I moved my limbs agressively trying to get out of her hold.
"Tommorow." I heard her say to me. I felt my limbs slowly losing their energy as my cousin pulls me away. "We'll look for it tommorow, okay?" She softly said.
My irises wandered once more until it caught something from a window. A girl. With long silver hair that changes to mint-green as it reaches the ends of her locks. Despite her back turned from me. I knew who she exactly is.
"You're an idiot!"
I closed my eyes when it flashes back to me again. Seriously?! At this moment?. When I opened my eyes again it focused at the same girl. I felt my amethyst eyes focused more at her as I remembered something. Something about my camera.
Yashiro-san..
Like camera-lenses my amethyst orbs blurred but then clearly stared back at her as I'm still getting pulled. She can't possibly do that, right? What would they even want from my SD card?
Right, Yashiro-san? I said in my head as if she can hear me. I slightly moved my gaze away. You're not bad. You're even a blessing. So she would never took it. I kept trying to convince myself.
Feeling my amtheyst irises focusing at her again. I asked one last question in my head as I saw the wind swayed her unique hair blending with the flowling curtains.
But who, Yashiro? Who took it? It wasn't you, right? You're a good person. And after all, I helped you with a memory. . .
didn't I?