Chapter 2 - Chapter 2

𝘑𝘪𝘯...

Amidst the darkness, I heard someone call out to me.

But I felt very comfortable so I ignored it.

𝘑𝘪𝘯...

Again, the voice called.

...Annoying.

𝘑𝘐𝘕!

My eyes shot wide open as my body jolted awake.

"Wha- What?"

I rubbed my groggy eyes and tried to shake off the drowsiness in my head.

A second later, I realized that I was sitting on the ground.

...Did I lose my chair?

I took another second to look where I was at.

In front of me was Reika wearing a highschool uniform so we should still be at school.

"..."

...Yeah, we should be at school.

"...Am I dreaming?" I asked because if my eyes weren't playing tricks with me, then we are currently in a vast expanse of nothingness.

Reika sighs in relief after hearing my words.

"No, you are not dreaming."

Hearing her normally cold voice prevented me from panicking and overthinking.

"I see..."

I stood up from the ground... or is what I think where the ground should be at and then looked at the surroundings.

Aside from other students who were just like us then we are currently in the middle of nothingness.

I mean... I don't even understand how this works like, how are we able to perceive each other if there is no source light?

I could still breathe normally without any problem, so where did the oxygen come from?

...Do I feel pain?

I pinched myself and confirmed it.

Yes, this isn't a lucid dream.

"Anna-chan... Anna-chan..."

Reika was trying to wake up Anna-chan who was sleeping beside me.

I looked around and realized that the other students were familiar to me.

This meant that they were my classmates.

Six to seven of us were already up and trying to wake up the other students who seemed to have fainted on the ground.

I counted twenty-six of us, the exact same number of us as classmates.

"Anna-chan... Anna-chan.."

Seeing that Reika was having trouble waking up Anna-chan, I figured I should help her. Because honestly, I've no idea what to think or do in our current situation.

So, moving to their side, I kneeled down beside Reika and lifted Anna-chan by her shoulders and laid her back on my knee.

"Anna-chan!"

I shook her shoulder gently and Anna-chan's face adorably frowned.

Ah crap... I want to pinch those cheeks...

I forcibly stopped my twitching fingers and decided to not act like a creep.

Again, I called, "Anna-chan!"

"Uuuoo...."

Finally. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly as she slowly opened her eyes.

"What..." Her small and soft voice also sounded adorable.

I coughed and looked her straight in the eyes. "Listen Anna-chan, you are having a wet dream and are fantasizing about your annoying bestfriend who will now proceed to attack you."

I teased her while mustering the most seductive smile I could do because, why not?

"Don't bother resisting since it's useless and besides..."

Trailing off at the end of my suggestive sentence, I leaned closer into her. Right now, she was wide awake and her face was adorably flushed with red hue.

Holy crap she looks so cute. I'll burn this image in my memories.

I continued with a sultry tone, "You know that you've always wanted this... It's your heart's deepest desires... so.."

Maintaining eye contact with her, Our faces were so close to the point where I could see my reflection in her eyes.

Any second later and—

Smack!

"Ouch!"

I held my head in pain after someone just smacked the living shit out of my head.

"You really are a peculiar boy, Jin-kun. We're in this situation and yet you still have the energy to joke around." Reika said while looking at me in contempt.

I just shrugged and helped Anna-chan stand up. At the same time, the cute petite gal realized the oddity of our situation.

With a confused face, she studied the surroundings for a bit before finally facing us.

She looks at us with a face that said, 'Where the hell are we?'

To which I can only shrug again in response as Reika answers, "We have no idea as well."

By this time, more students were waking up and were beginning to question each other.

"Oh my... where are we?!"

"Sana-chan! Wake up!"

"How the hell.."

"My head hurts! What the fuck!"

It didn't take long before everyone started to panic. I mean, you wake up and find yourself in what would seem like the void, of course anyone would panic. But said panic didn't last long as a handsome boy with an angular face and blonde hair stood in the middle of everyone.

"Everyone! Please calm down!"

After hearing his loud voice, the others stopped freaking out and turned towards said handsome blondie.

As expected of the class escort....? I think? Or was he the class representative?

No... the class representative had a black hair if I recall...

"Looking at you, you're probably thinking of something stupid." Reika remarked after glancing at my face.

"How rude. I was just thinking about-"

"What's his name?" She asked with a raised brow.

"...." Was I really that easy to read? More like what's with that smug look.

In any case, I decided to answer her rhetorical question with the most triggering answer for her so I can save my dignity.

"....He's one of the popular people who confessed to you, right? He's also the hardworking and earnest but stupid and dense main protagonist of our class, right?"

Her eyes narrowed before releasing an exasperated sigh.

"You somehow got his description correct but you don't remember his name huh..."

Oh yeah, don't ask how I know this but most female students in our school hates Reika's guts since she keeps on getting confessed by all the handsome boys.

Also, she has a strong personality that doesn't get along with other people. Kinda like that lone alpha wolf wannabe you see in animes.

Like, really? Popular with the men but extremely hated by women. Talk about—

"You're still thinking about stupid things."

"No I'm not!"

...How did she know?

Her narrowed eyes remained staring at me for quite some time.

"...You guys are amazing."

We heard a small, soft, but cute voice speak with a thick foreign accent.

We turned towards Anna-chan who was looking at us with an amazed gaze.

Actually, she usually has this sleepy and emotionless face so it would be hard to notice these mild changes in her expression unless you've been observing her for a long time.

With a helpless sigh, Reika stated, "It's not my fault, Anna-chan. Jin-kun's stupidity is affecting me."

"Shameless!"

Exactly what do people see in this woman?!

"...Pay attention." Anna-chan said while looking at me with a slight reproachful look.

Why am I the one at fault?!

I glared at Reika for a second and I swear I saw her sticking out her tongue at me.

This bitch is taunting me!

"...Jin."

"Right... Right..."

You're lucky Anna-chan who is always quiet is now speaking a lot.

I decided to put Reika out of my mind while looking back towards the group of students.

From what I've gathered from their conversation, the handsome boy's name is Kazuhaki Soutaro.

In case you don't know, In japanese names, the last name is spoken first before the first name.

So those who are close and familiar with the boy are calling him, "Soutaro" or "Souta" but other classmates address him "Kazuhaki-san".

Most students gathered towards the middle and surprisingly, Kazuhaki-san wasn't the one leading conversation.

Our group, consisting of Me, Reika, and Anna-chan, moved closer to the middle and tried to listen to their conversation.

In the middle of the gathered group were Kazuhaki-san, a beautiful girl with caramel hair, a blonde-haired girl that gave a gal-like impression, a girl with prim and proper student attire who seemed to be the class representative, and finally, two boys who seemed to be from the athletic club.

Their conversation wasn't really fruitful since they were just talking about what they recall before waking up here.

Almost everyone had the same answer, saying that they all entered the classroom before the lunch break ended.

From the conversation, I learned that the name of the beautiful girl with caramel hair was Yoshimura Ayano.

She is a popular girl who is well liked by the girls and boys of the class. She is a kind-hearted girl who is friendly with everyone.

She's that kind of girl who you can expect to receive a smile whenever you smile at her.

The girl who looked like a gal was named Takenaka Aika. Contrary to her gal-bitch look, she was actually a well mannered person with no spoiled or bitchy attitude.

She also seems to be the leader of the girls of the class.

Lastly, I was correct about the girl with a prim and proper uniform. She really was the class representative and her name was Amaterasu Aoi.

She has a strong sense of responsibility and is fit to be the leader of the class. She is capable of voicing out her thoughts as well as listening to the opinions of those around her.

As for the two athletic boys, I didn't manage to catch their name.

....Actually, I just wasn't interested in learning their names.

Also, why do I get the feeling that those three beautiful girls liked Kazuhaki-san?

Hm.

"How about you, Yabuki-san?"

"Hm?"

Oh yeah, in case you didn't know, Yabuki Jin is my name.

Anyway, I didn't expect to be called by Amaterasu-san so I stupidly responded like that.

With everyone looking towards me, Amaterasu-san repeated her question. "What do you think about the current situation, Yabuki-san?"

They're asking me?

"I think-"

However, just as I was about to speak, someone shouted which attracted everyone's attention.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

When we looked towards the source, we saw that the "Quiet Kid" or male loner student of the class was screaming in despair while shouting profanities.

"Fuck! What the fuck! WHY! WHY AM I HERE AGAIN! GOD FUCKING DAMN IT! WHY!"

The hatred in his voice made some of the students tremble.

"Here again?"

Reika's eyes narrowed while repeating the suspicious words that the Quiet Kid said.