... Shiki was still terrified, vividly recalling the unpleasant scene. His whole body was soaked in sweat and trembling. Then, Shiki suddenly looked around his room, utterly confused.
"How did I get into my room?!" Shiki asked himself.
"Did I go back in time again!?"
He then tried to calm himself down and lay in bed for a while. After resting for a bit, he reached for his phone on the small table beside his bed and turned it on. Shiki's phone wallpaper was an anime girl character. Like many young people these days, Shiki enjoyed watching anime. After turning on his phone, Shiki looked at the time and date.
Immediately after looking, Shiki became very confused again. This was because the date Shiki woke up was October 23rd, and the time he turned on his phone was 8:47 AM and 20 seconds.
Therefore, Shiki knew that he had not gone back in time.
"Then... did what happened last night really happen?!" Shiki was extremely shocked and terrified.
Then, Shiki quickly opened his apartment door and hurriedly ran down to the alley behind the building.
Teacher Aoi was like family to him. Shiki was a pitiful child who had lost his parents in an accident since he was young, and he didn't even know his father's and mother's names or what they looked like. He had been cared for in the hospital until he was five years old and was sent to an orphanage at the age of six. Teacher Aoi came to teach at the orphanage until he finished middle school. When it was time for him to go to high school, Teacher Aoi took him in and gave him a place to stay in her apartment. Shiki worked part-time at a restaurant on school holidays to repay Teacher Aoi's kindness and to save money for his personal expenses. Therefore, if something were to happen to Teacher Aoi, it would be extremely painful for Shiki.
When Shiki arrived at the alley behind the building, he couldn't find anything. No body parts, no pools of blood, nothing at all. The alley was clean and smooth as if nothing had ever happened.
Then, Shiki heard the sound of footsteps approaching. When he quickly turned around, an old man wearing a gray cardigan and baggy black pants entered the alley. This old man was the owner of the apartment building.
Shiki went over to the old man and asked, avoiding directly mentioning his strange experience so others wouldn't know, "Uncle Daizo!!" Shiki carefully observed Uncle Daizo's facial expression in response to his question and waited to see how he would react.
"Last night... did you happen to see anything strange in this alley?"
"Last night...? Last night, I didn't see anything strange in this alley... Why, Shiki?" Daizo replied with a puzzled look. "And what could be so strange?"
Based on Daizo's facial expression, his reply, and his tone, Shiki assumed that Daizo hadn't seen anything.
"Are you feeling better? How are you?" Daizo asked Shiki.
Shiki was taken aback by Daizo's question and replied with a confused
"Huh?"
"Aww, don't you remember? Last night, you collapsed in front of the apartment in the heavy rain... Teacher Aoi was worried because you were late and was about to go look for you when she found you collapsed in front of your apartment. She called me and some others, and we carried you to your room."
Hearing this, Shiki was very surprised. The thing Shiki wanted to know most right now was about Teacher Aoi. So, Shiki grabbed Daizo's shoulders with both hands and urgently asked, "Is Teacher Aoi alright!? Was she hurt at all? Where is Teacher Aoi now?!"
"Take it easy, kid. Teacher Aoi is fine. I think she stayed in your room all night taking care of you. She even looked a little tired when she left for school."
Hearing this relieved Shiki's worries.
"And you should worry about yourself first, kid"
Daizo chuckled slightly and went to water the plants as he usually did.
"Yes..." Shiki replied.
Then, Shiki went back up to his room.
So, what were those things I saw last night...? A dream of the future? Impossible... I'm sure I saw those things last night, Shiki thought as he went back upstairs.
As Shiki was thinking this and going upstairs, he suddenly heard someone's voice cut through his thoughts.
"Feeling better? Morning."
"Yes... Good morning..." Shiki suddenly replied.
However, Shiki suddenly stopped and turned around.
Huh... that was a surprisingly friendly greeting, Shiki thought.
The person who greeted Shiki was a girl, also a student from Shiki's school. She was a very quiet and aloof person. She had short black hair, round greyish-blue eyes, a small and slender figure, and was a very cute girl.
Then, Shiki continued upstairs. He reached the sixth floor and stopped for a moment in front of Teacher Aoi's room. Then, he continued walking forward and went up to his own floor, the seventh floor. When he reached his room, he grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and entered the room.
I'm hungry, I should have breakfast, Shiki thought. However, the unpleasant scene he had witnessed last night suddenly flashed back into Shiki's mind.
"..... I've even lost my appetite."
Shiki went into the kitchen and saw food covered with a lid, a few doses of medicine, and a card on the dining table. Shiki walked over to the table, picked up the card, and read it.
"Good morning, my dear Shiki... Teacher made breakfast for you here, okay? It might not be as good as yours, but it's tasty. Don't come to school today, rest at home. Teacher has already requested two days of leave for you, so eat breakfast and take your medicine... Aoi..."
"Whatever, I have to eat this breakfast... How long has it been since I've had Teacher Aoi's cooking...? I'll go wash my face and brush my teeth first."
Shiki went into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror while washing his face. Then, he took a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste from a small basket next to the sink and put a little toothpaste on the bristles of the toothbrush. After that, he brushed his teeth. After brushing, he rinsed his mouth and leaned forward slightly to wash his face. Then, he raised his head again, and Shiki suddenly saw something strange in his reflection in the mirror. The strange thing he saw in the mirror was dark glitches appearing in his reflection.
"Huh...? What was that just now...?" Shiki looked again, but the dark glitches didn't appear again.
"......" Shiki stopped thinking about it and turned around to go back into the kitchen to eat breakfast.
At that moment, something happened that Shiki didn't notice. That was that Shiki's reflection and shadow in the mirror didn't follow Shiki's movements for a few seconds.