"h-how?..." i mumbled. i wasn't sure if anyone would hear my mumbling. The other witnesses, that is my homeroom teacher and the man in the robe, stayed silent as well. i couldn't tell if they were surprised or happen to know about it. i pulled back from kiyoshi, but didn't leave him fully. i rested my hand on his arms, and turned back to the teachers.
"how is he...alive?," i spoke, in a shaky voice. the teacher hesitated for a moment, then replied, "we don't know. after you went silent, we saw another person holding you when you started to collapse from exhaustion." i listened carefully, and looked down a bit. i left the thought with a sigh escaping my lips. i turned back to kiyoshi, who seemed to be examining the room, like a puzzled child, turning his head in different directions.
"something wrong?" i asked him, being a bit curious by his actions. kiyoshi turned to me and shaked his head, "no, i was looking around." he replied in a calm manner.
i got up and dusted my clothes off. i adjusted my clothes which were a bit dishievelled. i looked at my teachers, and spoke up, "i'll return to my dorm and get some rest, please feel free to ask me if any problems regarding this." My homeroom teacher nodded. "alright." says he. i nodded back and went towards the door, kiyoshi followed me. the look on his face was making me feel guilty. it was normal, yet a sulky expression. i couldn't tell if he was sad or oblivious to anything right now.
i went through the door which still remained opened since we entered, and made a walk to my dorm. the hallway was pretty dark and silent, it seemed calming a bit. i glanced at kiyoshi again, who just seemed blank. His gaze was faced forward. The colour of his eyes were almost mesmerizingly hazel in colour, which gave a slight glow in the light. i would usually admire them when we were little. my lips were inches apart, as i started to mesmerize them again, this time feeling a sense of happiness instead of admiration.
"kiyoshi," i called out. "i can rest easy now," i murmured. at one point, i felt a bit embarassed i said that, and i know it was cliché in my opinion. kiyoshi turned to me, and opened his mouth afterwards, "hide, did you forget to cut your hair?" i paused for a moment. i was expecting some dramatic reply like, "i'm glad i got this chance" or something. but i would feel clichéd if i were to get that response. i shrugged the thought off mentally and responded back, "really? i don't think i've been looking in the mirror lately." and chuckled a bit.
"your hair is upto the neck, dude!" he confirmed, looking a bit surprised and amazed at the same time. i reached my hand to my neck and felt the tip of my hairstrands. it did grow quite a lot. "i'll get it chopped off then." i spoke, after realization. kiyoshi smiled a bit and nodded, "alright." was his response. we kept walking in the dark, and glanced at a few windows which felt aesthetic to look at.
i reached my dorm without anyone's notice, and opened the door. i saw a few other subjected students in the main room, as their attention was focused on us now. they took a glance at kiyoshi and was perplexed, since they weren't informed about another person in the facility. we entered the room and headed upstairs. everyone was giving curious glances at kiyoshi, while he just waved his hand at them. kiyoshi was carefree, unlike me who was concerned even about random stares at my direction.
i rubbed the back of my head and was trying to be unbothered, and focused on kiyoshi for the time being. we reached our room and closed the door, locked it as well. kiyoshi sat on the bed and relaxed a bit. i noticed his clothes were ragged from being in a coffin for too long. i went into my cupboard and went through a collection of shirts of my size. then i took out a plain, full sleeved black shirt, which suits his current look better. i took a normal pant as well.
i threw it to him and spoke up, "use this, your clothes had their days." kiyoshi was baffled for a second, then nodded, "alright. you have a point for once." he pouted a bit. i was in a mixture of surprise and dumbfondedness, i was sure i had been an airhead back then. i ran a hand through my hair and sighed, shifting the topic aside by saying, "alright, now change your clothes over there." i pointed to the dressing room at the corner.
kiyoshi turned his gaze to the corner and walked towards it, oening the door and entering it, closing the door behind him without any complains. i sat in the bed and blowed a sigh of relief. i took off my overcoat and kept it on the mattress. then i raised my head and looked in the mirror in front of me. "my hair did grow," i murmured to myself. i got up from the mattress and went to a drawer, rummaging through various stationary objects. at last, i held a pair of scissors in my hand and snipped it blankly once, just to test how smooth it is.
i went inside the bathroom and closed the door behind me. i washed my face a little, and was spacing out for a bit. i raised my head again and took a strand of my hair, and started to snip each small pieces one by one. i was focused since i don't want to see myself look like crap considering i never done this before. i started with the back, cutting each part equally till my earlobes. i checked in the mirror and i was quite satisfied with the result. it wasn't over though, i moved to the front. i was hesitating and thinking for a moment, i was afraid it would turn out bad. yet i did start snipping just the tips which looked uneven and messy. i took my time, and i was done with a task which felt like eternity. i exhaled a bit and rinsed my hair while i was at it.
there was a towel at the hook, which i took it and ruffled my hair with it. it was luck actually, or i might have to take a look at kiyoshi's baffled reaction of my cut hair assuming he might be done changing. i took a step back and leaned against a wall, feeling exhausted somehow. i took slow yet deep breaths every passing minute, while i kept the towel in my head and spaced out a bit. a few minutes pass, i didn't want to take long inside for nothing. i got out and covered my head with the towel i used for drying my hair, as i saw kiyoshi all changed up, sitting on the mattress.