As I open my eyes, I'm blinking and squinting against the bright sunlight streaming from the open window and landing almost directly on my face. I pull my covers over my head and groan in distress, trying to shut out the world and find sleep again, but it's useless. Half-awake, I feel drained and somehow completely unhappy about the perfect weather. I have a bad feeling about today. My time at Yamaku in general has been less than stellar. I've failed completely to meet anyone that I could call a friend, missing every opportunity behind my wall of self-pity and dishonesty. Kenji is the closest thing I have to a friend and I don't even like him. His only redeeming factor is that his parents send him what I think passes for good whiskey. And when he's drunk, he's more annoying than ever, so it's a trade-off.
 
This feeling is more than just my miserable circumstances though...
 
The offensive call of my alarm suddenly interrupts the spell and my heart flutters, forcing me fully awake. One hand slaps the alarm unnecessarily hard and the other rises instantly to my chest as I close my eyes in pain. Blood pounds in my ears, but the clenching feeling gradually eases and my heart's erratic rhythm slows. With a sigh, I rationalize away the sense of foreboding I had waking up. Starting the day with depressing thoughts and heart palpitations is a little ominous, but it's only a coincidence. Mutou would frown at me for bringing superstitous thinking into his classroom, anyway. Resigned, I crawl out of bed, down my handful of pills and quietly make my way to the bathroom.
 
After a blissfully Kenji-free shower and a very drawn-out morning routine, as if to avoid this day as long as possible, I leave the dorm and make my way through the grounds. I have no idea why I'm dreading this particular day. I've been into my classes on the worst (well, only) hangover of my life after a so-called 'manly' picnic that really can only be called pathetic. Today can't possibly be worse than that. The entire day after that night of idiocy, I wished that I was dead.
 
Halfway to the school I spot Emi, standing perfectly still by the track, staring up at the sky... Surprise at such a pensive pose from the bubbly girl replaces my despair with curiousity. I guess Rin must have gotten to her. It was only a matter of time. I think about saying hello, but I'm already a little late thanks to my lethargic morning, so instead I walk briskly through the main doors and up the stairs. When I hear the strange, flamboyant voice echoing down the hall on the third floor, a chill runs down the back of my neck and I'm sure the sense of impending doom falls on me again. As I enter my homeroom, Mutou does not even turn to look. At first I take this as a sign that I should just go to my seat, but as I turn to do so, I realize he's the person I could hear coming down the hallway. My head whips back around. The shit-eating grin my teacher is wearing is absolutely constant as he rants on about 'true science' and the small-minded futility of mainstream researchers' projects. Even a small smile on the face that usually looks so glum always seemed out of place to me in the short time I've known him. But this is just... horrifying. His voice is his, but isn't. It's an obnoxious tone that I feel is vaguely familiar, but I can't put my finger on it...
 
Turning to the class to see if they're as shocked by his change as I am, I end up doing another double-take. Shizune has her head down and she's scribbling in her notebook. As I look more closely I can see she's drawing little hearts in the margins. Misha sits at her side, back straight, staring directly at the teacher when she's not fastidiously adding additional notes to her stack of already-full pages. In the back row, Hanako is strangely calm, her hands folded on her desk and her attention on Mutou, but with an air of ease that the new Misha's stern gaze lacks. When she sees me looking her way, she only nods and smiles pleasantly, not once lowering her head or doing anything at all to hide her scars. She looks... aloof. Confident, but reserved. By now dots are connecting in my mind and I'm hardly surprised to realize whose behaviour Hanako is emulating. In the front row Miki is not even paying attention to the lesson, which is usual, but she's... reading Shakespeare. Huh. That Suzuki girl in the adjacent front row desk sleeps with a dreamy smile on her face. I force myself to walk to my assigned seat, and as I pass I swear I hear the soft-spoken narcoleptic mumbling 'gaylord'.
 
Time goes by in a blur, me sitting in stunned silence, no one else seeming to realize that anything has changed. Mutou's lecturing goes in one ear and out the other. Normally I can follow his lessons, even if he is - or was - a little scatterbrained. But now his mind is on one long and uninteresting track. With fifteen minutes to the lunch bell, a balled-up piece of paper hits me in the back of the head. Mutou either doesn't notice or doesn't care. After a short hesitation, I pick the message up and spread it on my desk, slightly wrinkled.
 
[Hicchan, we really need help taking apart some of the stalls from the festival, can you please, please help? There's lunch in it for you and it will give you something to do!]
 
I turn to see the widely smiling face of what I'm supposed to believe is Shizune. She called me 'Hicchan'. This is surreal. I can hardly put my pen to the note for a reply. The new Shizune watches with a half-concerned, half-confused pout as I write my response with a shaking hand and awkwardly slide it back.
 
[I told you, I'm not joining the student council.]
 
I didn't slide it far enough and she has to lean out of her seat to get it. I notice for the first time that her blouse is open, probably to deal with the heat, a shockingly rare and alluring sight when it comes to Shizune. I would wonder how I didn't notice it before, except that I've woken up in some kind of twisted parody of my life. Even in my reality-shattering circumstances though, now that I've seen the view, I can't help but stare. When she notices this she puts on the second most enormous open-mouthed grin I've ever seen, quickly adjusts her glasses and then shakes violently, the vibrations rattling my desk a little. Shizune adds a great deal to her reply, me watching her writing and wondering how freaked out I look right now.
 
[You don't have to join, just help out a little and earn delicious take-out! Besides, you look like you could use the company.]
 
[Hahahahaha so you're that kind of guy Hicchan, yes I bet you really could use the company, right? Hahahaha--]
 
I refuse to read any more of the silent laughter translated into text, which runs on to fill almost the entire page. I ball up the paper with no response and throw it back at her, only to miss and nearly hit Hanako... but she catches the ball easily. I was trying to preserve a little of my dignity, now Hanako is reading our conversation and slowly raising her eyebrows. Her lips curl up in a smirk and she looks up again, directly at me.
 
"My, my..."
 
Blushing and turning to face what used to be Mutou again, I bury my head in my arms, barely able to believe I still care about being embarrassed. I don't look her way once, hiding by keeping myself turned away, and it doesn't take long for me to realize that's exactly what the old Hanako would have done if she were the one to be embarrassed. I ought to be more concerned with what's happening, yet somehow the knowing smile and playfully accusatory glance of what used to be Hanako when she read those words matters to me more than these mysterious transformations. The old Mutou would chide my lack of scientific curiousity, or something. My depression intensifies as I realize I actually miss him. Thankfully, I don't have to listen to the idiot he's been 'replaced' by for very much longer. The bell rings and I leave the classroom as quickly as possible.
 
Something hits me in the face as soon as I step out the door. The impact knocks me back on my ass and my nose is bleeding, but at least I wasn't hit in the chest... Hissing through clenched teeth, I open my eyes to see that Tezuka girl also on the floor, with a bruise on her forehead. She tries to reach it with her foot, probably to rub it or something, for a few moments; when she realizes she can't stretch quite that far I hear her growling with a viciousness that isn't hers. I've already guessed whose it is, remembering Emi staring into space by the track. The track uniform on Rin is something of a giveaway too. Seeing her in the boy's uniform with sleeves tied off all the time, I never realized how uncomfortable I really could be with the sight of her dismembered arms. I never realized how skinny she was either. I wipe my nose on the back of my hand and she looks over at me, eyes going wide as she spots the blood.
 
"...Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I'll go get the nurse right away, stay here! I'm sorry I'm sorry --"
 
Rin runs off down the hall again, leaving me about as disconcerted as she usually does, but for a very different reason. My classmates begin to trickle out into the hall and stare at me with mixtures of surprise,  concern and amusement. Misha takes one look at me, one look at Rin running off, and starts yelling.
 
"Tezuka!" I thought Misha was loud ordinarily. This is like nothing I have ever heard, my eardrums hurt more than my nose now. Rin stops, pouting apologetically in a way I know from another face as she stops and slowly turns her head. "Running in the hallways is strictly forbidden, and the blood you see on your fellow student is proof of the importance of this!" Misha goes on, still shouting. "Fortunately~! Hisao's injury is not too serious. There's no reason to bother the nurse about a nosebleed. We will stay with Hisao while he cleans up as an extra incentive to help us with today's work! But you will walk, to wherever you're going, one slow-and-careful-step-at-a-time! Understood?"
 
Rin nods quickly, but she's half-jogging as she turns and heads down the stairs. Misha sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose, pink drills bouncing as she shakes her head in exasperation.
 
"Come on, Hisao. Tilt your head back and follow me."
 
She signs something rapidly to Shizune, who nods, and I'm marched off to the student council room. Shizune brings me a wet cloth and I manage not to get any blood on my uniform. The catch is that I now have no escape from Misha's clutches, and she seems to be taking on the role of president now, whatever her actual position in the council is. It occurs to me that it was never mentioned, but with a council of two I would assume vice-president. If she has any title at all.
 
Title or not, she's in charge as she keeps my head tilted back and complains passionately about running in the hallways. Seeing Shizune's no-nonsense personality from Misha is strange. It's almost as if she's still translating for me, but now she's doing it absolutely perfectly, instead of cutely lilting every order and chastisement, robbing them of their effect that is so hard to stand up to. I almost find myself wishing she were mute, and then I feel awful. Especially since the bizarro student council duo is going to so much trouble for me like this. As Misha said, it's not that serious an injury. I'd questions their motives for helping me, except that there aren't even that many stalls here to disassemble. It looks like they're already almost done their work. They probably just wanted to give me another chance at some kind of a social life. Broken reality or not, I know when I should feel ashamed, and this is shame-o-clock on the dot. I really need to shape up and stop putting such a negative spin on every person around me. That should go for this... paranormal experience I'm having, as well. Something in the back of my mind tells me this enlightenment I'm feeling is really just a coping mechanism, but I ignore it and focus on being grateful.
 
After my nose stops bleeding, I thank both the girls, giving Shizune a little bow that puts her into another attack of silent hysterics. I offer to help and end up spending what remains of my lunch break taking apart the remaining stalls. On the way back to class I grab a snack from the vending machine, and predictably, the horrible new version of Mutou ignores the fact that I'm eating while he talks out of his ass. Even Misha turns a blind eye to my blatant disregard for proper classroom behaviour. Behind the attentiveness she's forcing herself into, I can see that she hates our teacher as much as anyone would, the way he is now.
 
When the final bell rings, I hurry to be the first into the hallway again, but this time I look both ways before I step out. No sign of Rin, but ironically, Emi is out there. I don't have to be afraid of that girl running into me anymore, it seems. She's moving at a leisurely pace, though still in her leg blades, clacking quietly to her lazy gait. She doesn't see me as she passes, too busy staring at the ugly portrait on the far wall. Against my better judgement, I call out to her as I move out of the way of the classroom door.
 
"Hey, Emi."
 
She stops and turns slowly on the spot, prosthetics squeaking a little on the tile floor. The mouth that used to smile so often is a flat line as she stares through me impassively.
 
"Hello."
 
"What, um... How are you?"
 
Emi blinks and her gaze wanders past me into the classroom, out through the window.
 
"I'm fine. I've got to decide whether to change how I run. I don't feel so much like a runner anymore. When I was running this morning I wanted to stop almost right away. My legs didn't hurt at least not really not anymore than running usually would make them hurt but I felt like it was a waste of time and kind of a waste of space to run around one track when I could be running to all of the other places nearby this place. Running in the same place all the time is a waste of running. The best thing about running is that it gets you to... places."
 
Emi blinks again, looking like she's doing it manually, and I'm speechless. After a moment her gaze wanders back more or less in my direction.
 
"Can I still be a track star if I don't run on the track?"
 
"I... yes."
 
She nods and turns away, seeming to think this conversation has  reached its end, but I stop her again despite myself.
 
"Wait... Emi. Don't you feel like anything is weird, today? Haven't you noticed anything at all?"
 
Emi just shrugs. "Lots of things are weird every day. You have a little bit of paint, or maybe that's dried blood, right where your moustache will be when you are older. Unless you shave a lot. But that's still there if you don't shave. The paint, or blood, and that's weird. Especially if it's blood."
 
"It's blood," I mutter, feeling hopeless.
 
Emi looks surprised. Considering who she has become, I guess that's something of an achievement.
 
"Really?"
 
I just nod, miserably thinking that I must be the last sane man in an insane world...
 
Wait a second.
 
"...Okay, talk to you later, Emi!"
 
Emi tilts her head and watches me run off the way she would have, before. I don't know why I'm running to the delusional man-child that I'm running to, but my intuition tells me that if anyone will know what to do when realistic solutions don't even apply to the situation... it's Kenji.
 
Across the grounds, past a terrified-looking Lilly constantly tapping her cane in all directions around her and whipping her head around at the slightest noise, around the wall with Rin's mural and into the boys' dorm, up the stairs, into our little hallway... I hammer on Kenji's door, my heart racing, my mind racing, pure adrenaline coursing through my veins as the ramifications of what is happening hit me like a ton of bricks. Nothing in life will ever make sense again after this. Logic and rationality no longer mean anything, when phenomena such as today's can appear from thin air. It's far too real to be a dream, too widespread and personal to be a prank, yet too impossible to be acceptable to my mind. I want to scream at everyone, or run and hide, or hit something or someone, or just forget my life before this horrible day so I can adjust to this terrible reality. The clicking of Kenji's many locks seems to drag on forever...
 
The door finally opens and Kenji appears, frowning, the thick lenses of his glasses flashing ominously as he leans forward to confirm that it's me.
 
"What the hell, man? You can't just charge in and pound on a bro's door like that. I might have thought we were under attack, I could have seriously busted you up man. You know I'd feel bad when I saw it was you but you can't be too careful. You're lucky I took a chance this time. I keep telling you we need passwords!"
 
Kenji can't quite see it, but tears are welling up in my eyes. Tears of joy. He's the same. This one unmovable rock in a world that shifts and changes on a whim without warning. This one faithful constant in my universe, still here, with his breath and conversation as unbearable as ever. My legs and arms move on their own without thinking and I step toward him as I pull him into the crunchiest, manliest hug any two bros ever shared. I feel safe. I feel secure. Kenji's hand awkwardly pats me on the back, and then he pushes me away. Not even embarrassed, I simply tell him 'thank you', and then turn to step into my own room.
 
Just having one person that I know will always be there for me, and always as himself, is all the comfort I needed. The sweet, sweet sound of Kenji's stupid ranting is all I can think about when I crawl under my covers. With just one thing that I can count on, I might survive this school after all.