…Do you know who Misaki is? The one in third-year Class 3? Did you hear the story?

Misaki? Is that someone's name?

Yeah. No one knows what characters it's written with. It could be a last name, so it's not even necessarily a girl. Either way, Misaki So-and-so or So-and-so Misaki, there was a student named Misaki twenty-six years ago.

Twenty-six years? Wow, that's a long time. That's back with the last emperor.

1972. The forty-second year of Emperor Hirohito's reign. I think that was the year Okinawa was returned.

Okinawa came back? From where?

Are you stupid? America was occupying it up till then, ever since the war ended.

Oh, so that's why there're still all those graves.

Now that I think about it, the Winter Games were in Sapporo that year, too. Pretty sure the Mount Asama Lodge incident was, too…

What lodge on Mount Asama?

Are you for real? Whatever, I guess. Anyway. What matters is, twenty-six years ago, there was a student named Misaki in Class 3 of the third-years. And then…are you sure you never heard this story before?

Hmm…hold on. You're saying the kid was named Misaki? Not Masaki? If it's Ma-saki, then yeah, I heard a little bit about it.

Masaki? Huh. Maybe it's like that in some versions. Who'd you hear it from?

An upperclassman in my club.

What'd he say?

I dunno if it was twenty-six years ago, but there was a third-year student named Masaki a long, long time ago…and, um…the way I heard it, it was a boy. And something really weird happened in his class that year. But my upperclassman said it's a secret, and you're not supposed to go around talking about it. So he said he couldn't tell me anything else.

That's it?

Yeah. He said, "If you joke around about it, bad things will happen to you." I bet you it's one of those things. "The Seven Mysteries."

You think so?

You know how piccolo music starts playing in the music room in the middle of the night when no one's around, or how sometimes a hand all covered in blood reaches out of the lotus pond in the schoolyard? So I figure, maybe this is the seventh one.

I heard that the mannequins in the home ec room have actual heartbeats.

They totally do!

There's a ton besides that. I know like nine or ten of the "Seven Mysteries" at this middle school. But this story about Misaki or Masaki or whatever it was…I don't think it's one of those. Most of the stories feel pretty different from the rest of the "Seven Mysteries."

Wow, really? So you know the details?

A little, I guess.

Tell me!

What, you don't care if something bad happens to me?

That's just a superstition, obviously.

Yeah, you're probably right.

So tell me!

Actually, I don't know if I should…

Come on! I'll never ask you for anything else!

And how many times now has it been the last thing you'll ever ask me for?

Heh-heh.

Oh, for crying out loud. If I tell you, you can't go blabbing to everyone you know.

I won't tell anyone. I swear.

Hmmph. Okay…

Awesome.

So maybe it's Misaki or maybe it's Masaki…I guess for now, I'll say it's Misaki. Ever since their first year, this kid was popular with everyone. Brilliant student, accomplished athlete, really good at drawing, and even a talented musician. On top of all that, Misaki was gorgeous. And if he was a guy, he was chiseled. Whichever way, Misaki didn't have a single flaw.

That sounds kind of obnoxious, don't you think?

Nope, they say Misaki had a great personality, too. Not obnoxious or stuck-up at all. The kid was nice to everyone and just casual enough. That's why the teachers and students and everybody else adored Misaki. Well, you get it—Misaki was popular.

Huh. So people like that actually exist?

So third year started, and Misaki got put into Class 3 when they switched up the room assignments. And then all of a sudden, Misaki died.

Whoa.

It was still first semester, right before Misaki's fifteenth birthday.

What happened? Was it a car accident? Did Misaki get sick?

I heard it was a plane crash. Misaki's whole family was going to Hokkaido, and on the way back, the plane nose-dived. But there are other theories, too.

…

So the other kids got this horrible news, and it was a huge shock.

I bet it was.

How could this happen? everyone was shouting. Other people were wailing, It can't be true! And a bunch of kids were absolutely wrecked with crying. The homeroom teacher had no idea what to say to them, and the whole classroom had this otherworldly atmosphere…and in the middle of all that, somebody said: Misaki's not dead. I mean, look. Can't you see Misaki's here?

…

This kid pointed at Misaki's desk and said, "Look, Misaki's right there. Where else would Misaki be? Misaki's alive and right over there." After that, student after student chimed in, backing up that first kid. "It's true. Misaki's not dead. Misaki's alive. Misaki's right over there…"

…What did they mean?

Nobody wanted to believe that such a popular person had died so suddenly. They didn't want to accept it. That's what I figure. But it didn't end that day. The class kept it going for a long time after that.

What do you mean?

Everyone in class banded together after that and kept pretending, "Hey, Misaki is still alive!" I heard even the teacher was in on it all the way. "It's true. You're right, all of you. Misaki isn't dead. In this classroom, at least, Misaki lives on as a member of our class. From now on, we all need to work together to graduate. All of us, together."… Or something like that, at least.

It makes a good story, I guess. But I dunno, it's kind of creepy.

That was how they ended up spending the rest of their middle school careers. They left Misaki's desk exactly how it had been, and sometimes they would rest a hand on it and start talking to Misaki—who was supposed to be sitting there—or they would goof around with Misaki or go home together… But of course, it was all just an act. At the graduation ceremony, the principal was even considerate enough to set up a seat for Misaki…

Hmm. I guess it is a good story…

Yeah. Basically, this is a beautiful story with some great source material. Actually, there's a scary twist at the end.

Oh? Like what?

After graduation, they took a group photo in the classroom. The next day when they were looking at the developed picture, everyone noticed something. In this class photo, tucked away in a corner, they could see Misaki, who couldn't possibly have been there. Misaki's face was pale, like a corpse, and smiling like everybody else's…