Shape of a Miracle EP 2 - FreezeFrame

The boy bleached in white

Rays of light burst through the clear windows. Each desk aligned perfectly on the polished floor. All sense of life that filled the room, like the doodles on the chalkboard, have been erased. Cleaning time is over. The classroom is empty. The classroom is silent.

"Dammit."

Except for the second desk from the back. Ishida's desk. Who just dropped one of his school books. Picking it up, he looks back up at the clock: 4:10.

He pouts, dropping his book into his bag. Damn, he should have left ages ago, but there'll be so much of a ruckus at tomorrow's end of term ceremony that he's bound to leave something behind. So he figured he'd pack everything up today.

He hears footsteps and peers over the top of his open desk to see a familiar face at the doorway: Keizuki Shimada.

The boy steps into the room. His stride, both effortlessly precise and perfectly casual. The white, blinding sun beams out through the windows and melts into his fair complexion. His long, haunting shadow never ceases to follow. Even when barely anyone's around, he holds his head high, like a commander ready to call his army to attack -or an arrogant little prick. Take your pick.

But who cares about all that. What's he doing here? Doesn't he have cram school to go to?

Shimada stops in his tracks. Standing at the furthest window from Ishida. He turns away from the sun and leans on the sill, hiding his face in shadow.

Ishida huddles back into his desk, hiding his face from him. Whatever! Who gives a crap what Shimada's up to, it's got nothing to do with him.

"So... Chuku middle school, what do you know about it?"

Did shimada... Did Shimada just talk to him?

"C'mon, don't be coy with me." Shimada says "haven't you seen all the new transfers running around here lately? They're here while their school's closed for repairs. So tell me, why is it under construction?"

What? Why? Just why is he asking him about this? Why him? Why now?

"Yeah, I know they chalked it up to a leak." He continues "But that's obviously a lie. We all know it was... What was it-? the Pied Player."

Ishida freezes. He's heard that name before.

"Y'know, the Pied Player . A guy dressed in blue with all those wires around him. The mysterious mewsings blog has a whole page on it. I'm sure you've overheard the transfers talking about him."

He clutches his desk. Yeah, he's heard. But who cares. It has nothing to do with him.

"Apparently, he just showed up out of nowhere and vandalised the place. Question is: why ?"

Oh god, he can just hear the stupid little smirk he's making.

"I've already heard a lot of... interesting theories." Shimada chuckles "But, I don't think it's as complicated as everyone makes it out to be... He snapped, obviously, but it wasn't because he was particularly sad or lonely or whatever. No, the kind of people who snap are, well... The nobodies ."

Shut up. Shut up. Just shut the hell up.

"You know the ones. Not especially smart..."

He's not going to listen to this!

"Not particularly popular..."

He's NOT going to think about this.

"But not particularly strange either."

He has nothing to do with this...

"Just..."

"NOTHING."

That word echoes through the classroom. For once, Shimada is quiet.

Shoot. Ishida clasps his mouth. Did he- did he just say that? Did he really just scream that word? But this is... this is What Shimada wants, isn't it? He wanted a response -a reaction, right ? Well, he can't just ignore him for the past two years then waltz in here and talk his ear off like nothing happened. If he wants a reaction, he's gonna get one.

Finally Ishida pulls his head out from behind his open desk and turns to his popular classmate.

Well, what do you have to say to that?

Shimada glaces in his direction then turns back to his cellphone.

cellphone?

Crap!

Ishida crams his head into his schoolbag. Crap! Crap! Crap! He was speaking on the phone! He was speaking on the phone! Duh! Like Shimada would ever give him the time of day! Oh, god, and he actually talked back to him! He shouted so loud there was an echo! And he was just yelling at himself?! Ishida buries his head deeper into his bag. Damnit! Why does he have to be such an embarrassment?

"Hm? -Oh, no, sorry..." Shimada talks on the phone "It was just a bug... Yeah, don't worry I squashed it."

Oh.

"Yeah... I know, right? " He continues "Yeah...but let's get back on track."

Shimada doesn't care.

Ishida slams his desk closed. He's sick of listening to this. And you know what? He doesn't care either! If Shimadas just gonna pretend he doesn't exist then he'll do the same. He's leaving.

"Like I was saying, this guy's a nobody..." he says "So even if he did snap, he wouldn't feasibly be able to make that much carnage on his own. But I don't think he had help, at least not in the traditional sense. A possible explanation... Is that it's something more... I don't know, Paranormal? "

Ishida stops in his tracks.

Whaaat?

"Okay, laugh all you want." He shrugs, still talking on the phone "But multiple schools across the city were vandalized in a span of a couple hours, with barely anyone able to recall anything. If you can give me a better explanation, I'm all ears."

Literally anything else. Maybe it really was just a leak. Maybe it was all a hoax. Maybe all those people are lying. It probably didn't even happen.

But it did happen. Ishida knows it did. He's watched all those students get transferred into his school. He's seen all the damage that this has all caused. All that wasn't... Nothing.

"See..." Shimada continues on the phone "It's a reasonable conclusion to make. But fine, call me crazy. I don't care. I know I'm not. And I know the impossible when I see it."

The light blinding the room vanishes; the sun has finally set. It's dark, but suddenly everything is so much more clear.

He runs out of the room, leaving Shimada alone in the dark.