The classroom was silent.
Itsuki sat there, staring at the empty rows of desks as the pieces slowly started to click together.
His seat had always been the one by the window, not Amane's. But for as long as he could remember, for the last couple of days, it had been the opposite. He'd lost track of the days, but for what felt like forever he'd been waking up at exactly 5:24 a.m. And for some reason he hadn't taken it to mind. Then there was the strange music on the train, the students moving in perfect order whenever it was time to leave the class, the missing bells that usually went out in like with the time at the school. Even his dreams had started shifting, carrying new elements and information.
"What the hell is going on?" he whispered, his voice small in the empty room.
Everything else — the weather, the buildings outside — seemed normal. But the people didn't. The students especially. It was as if they were actors running on a script. If they were even real at all.
Itsuki pushed himself up from his chair, his palms damp. He walked to the door, opened it, and stepped into the hallway.
"Just as I thought. It's now empty even though they all left literal minutes ago'.
"What the fuck?—" he breathed, his footsteps echoing as he moved forward. The school was completely silent. No chatter, no footsteps, no distant ringing phones or humming lights. Just the hollow sound of his own breathing.
Then he heard it — A faint sounding of his name echoing from somewhere behind him.
He spun around, scanning the hall, but there was nothing.
"Maybe someone's on the PA system…" he muttered, trying his best not to make what was already a weird situation worse.
The voice came again. Louder but still fuzzy. It stretched his name unnaturally, echoing through the walls like it was being pulled from underwater.
This time he didn't wait. He ran. Down the hall, past the classrooms, past the lockers. His heart hammering in his chest as he pushed through the doors leading outside—
—and stumbled back into his classroom, bursting through the front door like he'd just walked onto a stage.
He stopped dead.
"What the… didn't I just—"
He blinked, trying to make sense of it, then ran again, out into the hall, straight to the exit. He opened the doors, staring at the street beyond. People were walking. Cars moving. Buildings standing tall under the pale sky. He took a deep breath, eyes wide.
Then he stepped forward.
And just like before, he found himself walking through the classroom door.
"That doesn't make sense," he whispered, stumbling backward. "I saw outside. I stepped into it. My eyes were fucking open…"
He sat down on the floor, leaning against the teacher's desk, the room's silence pressing down on him.
"How long have I been here? How many times has this happened? I only just noticed now, but—" His voice cracked. "It feels like it's been going on way longer than yesterday…"
He looked around, desperate for something — anything — that would explain what was happening.
"Maybe a demon's behind this. Maybe…" he whispered under his breath.
The ticking of the clock grew louder in his head. 'Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.' It sounded closer than it should have been.
Itsuki raised his eyes to it, hung above the board, its hands crawling forward, counting the seconds.
"The time…" he murmured. "If I just wait — if I sit here until lunch is over — everyone will come back like before. The clock will keep ticking and the day will eventually end. That's what happened yesterday."
He took a deep breath, clinging to the idea like a rope in water. "I'll just wait…"
TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.
Itsuki sat there, eyes flicking between the window and the clock. Lunch came and went, just like he remembered, just like it normally did. But no one returned. The teacher didn't come back. The students didn't file in. He just sat there, waiting. The silence thickening until it began to feel alive.
He sat there for over 2 hours waiting before he finally had a different train of thought.
"I'll wait for the final bell," he told himself. "Just like every other normal day and yesterday, I'll be able to leave. That's it. That's all I have to do."
He tried not to lose hope. That was the last thing he could afford.
TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.
The clock kept moving, ticking as the hours went by.
By 3 p.m., the sun stood firm, spilling long bars of warm sunlight across the floor. Outside the window, life moved on — cars passing, leaves stirring in the breeze, distant figures of people walking.
When the time the final bell usually rang arrived, Itsuki stood, his heart pounding in his chest. He needed this to work. He needed to step through those doors and feel the warm sunlight on his skin. Even if the loop wasn't done. Even if he had no plan after that. He just needed to know he could leave the school.
He walked through the hallways. Each step felt heavier than the last. His heart was a wild drumbeat as he reached the door.
He took a breath, staring at the world outside — the trees, the buildings, the moving cars, the people. He lowered his eyes to the ground, then raised them again, his throat tight.
He closed his eyes, lifting a leg as he stepped forward. One foot. Then the other, before he opened his eyes—
"Fuck!"
He was still in the classroom.
Still in the silence.
Still with the clock ticking above his head.
"What the hell is going on…"
TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.TOCK.
TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.TICK.
TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.