28 DAYS [MakoHaru]

two

Chapter Two

When Makoto first hears that Haruka Nanase had killed himself, he initially doesn't know what to think.

He stares blankly at Miss Amakata, not really believing what he just heard.

"Excuse me?" A girl a couple rows to the right - Izumi Tenga, Makoto recalls her name - asks in an airy voice, twirling her lavender ponytail mindlessly around her fingers, which are covered in sparkling gold and silver rings.

Miss Amakata sighs dryly, leaning back on her desk and pinching the bridge of her nose. Dread seeps into her tired-looking eyes, like she can't bear to repeat the sentence - saying it once was hard enough. "Nanase Haruka committed suicide yesterday morning."

The air seems to have been knocked out of Makoto as he slouches back in his uncomfortable desk chair. His hands rush to his hair, running through the locks as his eyes widen.

No, he thinks, refusing to believe it. No, this can't be happening.

Though, the more he thinks about it, allowing the bombshell to sink in, the more it makes sense.

While wandering the halls that morning, Makoto had sensed what felt like a storm of gloom and depression looming over the halls; he saw clumps of teachers huddling in the hallways, whispering to each other furiously, looks of grief and horror on their faces.

His eyes travel to his left, where what used to be Haruka's desk sits empty. There is something like that of a cloud of depression hanging over his chair, drawing towards waves of negative energy.

"Wait, who's Nanase Haruka?" A brunette boy from the back of the classroom shouts loudly. "You mean the freak?"

Makoto snaps his head to the side to glare at the boy, who has a confused expression on his face. His arms are crossed defiantly in front of him, threatening to wrinkle his school uniform.

"He is an important member of our student body and this community, Takahito-san," Amakata retorts with an edge in her voice, taking her reading glasses off her nose to look at him clearly. "And I do suggest you never to speak that rudely about Nanase-san again."

His face going pale, the boy slinks down in his seat as the eyes of every other student widens. Miss Amakata never spoke so harshly, and towards a single student, no less...

This was bad.

"Anyway..." Miss Amakata focuses on the paper once again. "This is the only information we have officially received on the circumstances surrounding the event. I know we are all saddened by Nanase-san's death and the faculty sends our condolences to his family and friends. Nanase-san was truly a wonderful young man. Crisis stations will be located throughout the school today for students who wish to talk to a counselor. His parents are scheduling to host a funeral. The time and date will be announced later today, and students may attend with parental permission."

Before she even finishes talking, Makoto knows he is going to attend the funeral. It is the least he can do, out of respect. Though, it puts him at unease; he's never been to a funeral that he can remember - the last one he went to was for his grandmother when he was six, and he was too young to understand the complexities of mortality back then.

Miss Amakata then swoops into an in-depth explanation about how death was hard to cope with and how it is unhealthy for people to bottle up their feelings, especially about an incident as sensitive and triggering as this one. Instead, she explains, the student body should focus on the positives of Haruka Nanase's life, to remember the happy memories instead of his death.

Makoto has no plans     to share any of his feelings; he is doing just fine keeping them to himself. There is no point, in his eyes, in making others worry about his problems. That is for him to handle.