June 6. The morning started with a nice, gentle morning air as I made my way to school, and arrived with the usual ten-minute gap before class. The classroom was still largely empty when I arrived, and I settled into my chair, watching as it slowly filled with the familiar buzz of classmates. The noise steadily escalated, and friendly chatter echoed from every corner as cliques and friend groups formed their daily huddles.
Then, the sudden hush fell. Our teacher stepped into the room, and the lively conversations died down almost instantly, replaced by the collective rustle of students taking their seats. The school day had officially begun. Homeroom passed with a few announcements, mostly forgettable. First period was History, a subject that never quite managed to capture my interest.
I was boooreeedddd out of my mind.
But overall, the day was unfolding as expected. And honestly, that was perfectly fine by me. Normal days are definitely the best. I don't have to waste my brain cells overthinking stuff.
Yep. Nice.
I mused to myself, a small sense of contentment settling in. It wasn't that I disliked exciting, eventful days... sports festivals and the like were alright, but I just preferred the easygoing flow of a typical day.
Math class began, and I dutifully took notes, knowing it was one of my weaker subjects. My pen raced across the page, trying to keep pace with the teacher's rapid explanations. But when I finally looked up from my notebook, the chalkboard was somehow already crammed full of equations. How did that even happen? I jokingly asked myself in my head.
Only five minutes remained before lunch break, and the air in the classroom was thick with anticipation. Yawns were contagious, whispers about which food my classmates were going to buy, and wallets subtly emerged from bags, ready for the race to the cafeteria once the bell finally chimed.
The bell rang, lunch break officially began, and I pulled my lunch from my bag. Just as I was about to dig in, a familiar figure approached my desk.
It was Lumi. She was one of those academically gifted students, always at the top of our class, or at least, almost always. Her near-perfect scores were frequently marred by incredibly unfortunate blunders on tests—like answers being off by a single decimal point, or other, even more... unfortunate mistakes.
These small errors consistently kept her from claiming the absolute highest score. Lumi and I had been friends since grade school... and considering how long we'd known each other, we could easily be called childhood friends.
"Sup, Ash." Lumi greeted, a gentle smile gracing her lips.
"Hey." I replied, taking a bite of my omelet.
"What's your lunch?" she asked, her eyes already fixed on my plate and not even making eye contact with me when she asked the question. Couldn't you be any more obvious?
She always asked what I was having, and if it piqued her interest, she wouldn't hesitate to ask for a share.
"Omelet." I said, gesturing vaguely at my food.
"Oh, can I have some?" Lumi asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but the barely suppressed excitement was practically radiating from her. Maybe eggs were her secret to being so smart.
"Yeah, sure," I said, already picking up a piece for her.
Lumi had an undeniable obsession with eggs. No, "obsession" wasn't strong enough. She loved them too much. She'd practically trade her entire lunch for anything egg-related, even something that just vaguely resembled an egg. It was genuinely weird. Of course, I never let her actually do that. As I was about to offer her the piece of omelet, someone else called out to me—
—It was Kian. He'd been a friend since my first year of high school. We'd met in a rather clumsy fashion... I'd tripped on absolutely nothing, scattering the contents of my bag everywhere. Luckily, he was there and helped me pick everything up. Our friendship had blossomed quite naturally after that.
Unlike Lumi, Kian wasn't usually at the top of the class, but sometimes he'd get grades that were really close to the highest. His main issue was that he didn't try too hard; he did just enough. I guess in a way, Lumi and Kian were kind of similar, both just missing that extra push to hit the very top.
"Ooh? What's this about?" Kian smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he took in the scene.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"Did you two finally start going out? You're at the point where you can feed her out in the open now, huh? Look at him, he's finally made a move~" Kian teased, his face contorted into a smug "hoho-" expression.
That's an annoying look on his face. I thought, a sigh escaping my lips. Wait. "Feed her out in the open"? I asked myself internally, only to then see Lumi, her mouth slightly agape, patiently waiting for me to place the food I was holding into it.
Oh. That's why. My internal thought was quickly followed by an immediate need to reply.
"Stop that, you know there's no way we're going out." I responded, my tone polite but with a subtle edge of annoyance that even made Kian flinch a bit. My grades were barely passing, I didn't stand out like Kian, and I certainly wasn't the most handsome. Maybe with a bit of polishing, but I was pretty sure it still wouldn't be enough.
"Woah, alright, sorry." Kian said, throwing his hands up in mock surrender, a small laugh escaping him. "You're real scary when you reply with that tone, Ash."
Lumi, who had been patiently waiting with her mouth open, finally closed it with a soft "tch!" of impatience. She shot me a look, her jaw visibly tired from holding the pose.
"Any day now, Ash! My mouth is getting tired, and I was so ready for that omelet." she complained, a hint of playful exasperation in her voice.
Oops. My bad.
But it felt like this exact situation had happened before. Arriving ten minutes early, the topics we discussed, the conversation we were having right now. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I was sure something crazy was going to happen today.
"What's wrong, Ash?" Kian asked me, probably noticing I was staring into space. He even snapped his fingers in front of my face.
But I ignored his question. I just kept staring blankly ahead.
I got the feeling like I was missing something really important. What was it? But I gave up thinking. It's probably only my imagination. Maybe I'm overthinking it. I even shook my head to clear my thoughts.
What happened afterwards immediately proved me wrong. A girl's scream could be heard across the classroom, making everyone jump in their seats. Then, a girl's body sprawled on the floor, blood spreading like spilled ink across the tiles and organs peeked out, the type of view that you'd only see in gore videos.
Her seatmate crouched beside her, screaming, hands shaking as she touched her friend's lifeless body. And standing above it, holding the knife like it belonged to her, was Aira. Her eyes were wide, but emotionless, like a doll's.
Unpleasant wouldn't even describe how ugly and disgusting this view was.
This felt oddly familiar, and I couldn't put my finger on it. I felt like the person who died this time wasn't the same as last time.
But I was sure the person holding the knife was the same. It was Aira.
I had no clue why everything felt so familiar. I was supposed to feel like vomiting, shaking, terrified of the sight before me, but I wasn't, as if I'd seen this many times before. I wanted to ask why she did it, but before I could say anything, she said something under her breath. I couldn't hear it again.
Wait, again?Just what did she say? I wondered, as I somehow calmly and blankly stared at the people panicking, watching the chaos happening inside the classroom. It was like watching a movie, detached and distant.
***
June 6. The morning air was crisp against my face as I walked to school, the usual drone of early traffic filling my ears. Before I even opened my eyes, a peculiar dream had replayed in my mind. "Everything will come to an end—but you shall prevent that end."
Huh? Hadn't I heard that before? I knitted my brows, trying to recall where.
I continued my walk, the dream lingering like a faint echo. I arrived at school with ten minutes to spare, the hallways still relatively quiet. The first period was History, which was soooo booooriiiiinnngg... so I just slept through it.
I woke up on time thanks to my internal clock after about an hour, and the next period was Math. I reached into my bag for my notebook, ready to take notes, when a sudden movement across the classroom yanked me awake. My eyes snapped open, and it took a few seconds for my brain to catch up to what I was seeing.
Aira, standing abruptly, a kitchen knife clutched in her hand. Without a word, she lunged and stabbed one of my classmates, like it was nothing. The sickening squelch echoed in the otherwise stunned silence.
The seatmate of the person who got stabbed let out a bloodcurdling scream, her eyes fixed on the knife still buried in their classmate's body. Then, with a swift, almost practiced motion, Aira yanked the knife out.
Why'd she kill someone again? Didn't that happen too early? My thoughts screeched to a halt, a chill running down my spine at the coldness of my own internal reaction.
—Wait. No. This must've happened multiple times if I was reacting like this. My mind raced, trying to make sense of the bizarre familiarity. But was I the only one who knew? Did it happen so many times that I just stopped reacting to it, brushing it off like it was nothing? Because I unconsciously knew it'd happen again?
I repeatedly asked myself questions, knowing deep down I wouldn't find any immediate answers. But as the horrific scene unfolded, a jarring realization clicked into place.
Oh. It was definitely because of that stupid dream.
My gaze locked onto Aira, who still held the bloody knife. She opened her mouth, uttering something that I couldn't hear again—it was like a muffled whisper, a sound I was destined to miss. Then, she turned the knife on herself, and I blacked out, the last image burned into my mind being a flash of crimson.