C25

Chapter 25: Wednesday, Beginning to Change

Wednesday morning.

The classroom was wrapped in the same morning air as always.

Students who arrived at school naturally gathered around close friends, exchanging casual conversations about videos they'd seen yesterday or plans for after school. Laughter echoed from all directions, and the morning light streaming through the windows was completely unchanged from yesterday.

At a glance, it was an ordinary classroom.

Yet—

Every time the classroom door opened, several gazes naturally turned toward the entrance.

Whenever someone arrived, people casually lifted their faces, but upon confirming who walked in, they immediately averted their eyes back down.

No one seemed conscious of their own actions, but tiny shifts were born all over the room—things that, until yesterday, no one would have paid any mind to.

Even so, overlapping voices continued without a break, and occasional laughter rang out.

Amidst that, the homeroom chime began to ring.

Students slowly returned to their respective seats, and the murmurs and scraping of chairs gradually faded from the classroom.

Just as the chime was finishing its ring, Kokona Suzumura and Kaho Kitayama opened the classroom door.

Before stepping inside, the two glanced back toward the hallway just once, then lowered their heads without exchanging a single word, quietly heading straight to their seats.

Several students silently tracked those figures with their eyes.

Before long, the homeroom teacher entered the classroom.

The murmurs that had been audible until then cut off, and the students turned to face their respective desks.

Standing in front of the podium, the teacher picked up a tablet.

Operating the screen with practiced fingers, they checked the students' attendance in order—

"......Tachibana is absent today, too."

At those words, several students lifted their heads in unison.

A few gazes turned toward the empty seat at the back of the classroom.

Yet, nothing more happened, and the teacher simply moved their gaze down to the next name.

Before long, the first-period teacher entered the room, and as the students' gazes gathered toward the front, the lesson began.

The teacher projected materials onto the front screen and progressed through the lesson in a calm voice. After a while, they called out to a specific student.

"Saeki, try answering this part."

"Eh...? Ah! Yes."

The called student raised their face in a panic.

"Saeki, your mind's somewhere else. Are you actually listening to the lesson?"

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

Several other students returned their gazes toward the front to match that exchange, and afterwards, the lesson proceeded without incident.

Every time the teacher switched the materials on the screen, the students dropped their gazes to their notebooks, jotting down the necessary points. Almost no small private chats—which normally would have been heard—took place, and only the teacher's voice and the scratching sounds of taking notes continued through the room.

Eventually, the chime signaling the end of the first period rang.

Students stood from their desks, and voices returned to the classroom once more.

Gathering with friends, some talked about the lesson just finished, while others discussed plans for the upcoming break, each exchanging words just like always.

Amidst that, a certain student tried to say something to someone, but stopped midway through.

"The other day... ah, no, it's nothing."

"Hm? What?"

"No, it's nothing. More importantly, wanna go to the restroom?"

"Huh? ...Yeah, sure."

The two stood up right away.

A little ways away, a similar conversation broke off and immediately shifted to a different topic.

Near there, while friends chatted as usual, a single student sat with their head bowed, unable to blend into the conversation.

Whenever someone laughed, they raised their face slightly.

Yet, they immediately dropped their gaze, remaining silent with their eyes fixed on the desktop.

Even so, laughter never vanished from the classroom.

Around Kujo, several students had gathered today as well.

While Kujo was talking about something, the usual laughter continued.

However, the moment Kujo addressed a different student, one of the people in that circle casually cast their gaze downward.

No one noticed, and the conversation simply kept going.

Looking only at the surface, it was a sight entirely unchanged from yesterday.

Yet, even within that circle, tiny changes that no one would have cared about until yesterday were beginning to take root.

Kujo showed no sign of minding such things, continuing his chatter in his usual tone.

The atmosphere in the classroom was beginning to shift, little by little, into something different from yesterday.

◇

The lessons continued as usual afterward.

Yet, the atmosphere in the classroom alone felt slightly different from normal.

Scarcely any private chatter could be heard, and even when break time arrived, students returned to their seats much earlier than usual.

Though friends exchanged words, few spoke at length. Even when laughter could be heard, it instantly melted into the quietude of the room.

Such a quiet time persisted through the fourth period.

Eventually, the chime signaling the end of the fourth period rang.

Triggered by that, the students stood up all at once. The sounds of chairs scraping and bags opening overlapped, spreading the sounds of lunch preparations across the classroom.

During a normal lunch break, circles of friends would naturally form from here. But today, movements were somewhat sluggish, and not a few students cautiously probed the surrounding atmosphere.

Amidst that, Kokona Suzumura and Kaho Kitayama stood up as well.

Both picked up their bags and headed straight for the classroom door, watched by the eyes of several nearby students.

"Hey, Kokona."

From behind, Renya Kujo's voice flew out.

Kokona stopped her feet and slowly turned around.

However, Kokona—who would normally respond to anyone with a soft, gentle smile—was wearing no expression at all right now.

"......What?"

It was a cold, pushing-away voice that would never normally be heard.

At those single words, Kujo faltered for a fraction of a second.

"Ah... Eh? Um... Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Answering only with that, Kokona directed her gaze toward Kaho.

"Kaho, let's go."

"Yeah."

The two walked right out of the classroom.

"R—..."

This time, Kujo's voice failed to reach their backs, blending instead into the classroom murmurs.

As the two walked out of the classroom, the sound of the door closing echoed softly within the room.

The students surrounding Kujo said nothing. The conversation that had been going on until just a moment ago cut off ever so slightly, and several people exchanged glances before quickly averting their eyes.

Before long, the broken conversation crept back by degrees.

Even so, no one touched upon what had just happened.

The classroom still retained its usual pre-departure murmurs. Yet, an inexpressible atmosphere—as though something was piling up bit by bit—was beginning to be born.

(Note: In the school depicted in this work, parents do not call the school to report absences; instead, they submit notifications via a school-designated app. Tachibana's absence was also reported as "feeling unwell.")