SECOND MYSTERY: Misako-sensei
Chapter 1 “Evening Class”
Kotsu, kotsu. (TN: heeled shoes walking)
The sound of footsteps echoes in the old school building, which is supposed to be empty.
Kotsu, kotsu.
Kotsu, kotsu.
The footsteps gradually become louder.
This is proof that they are approaching the classroom where Houzuki is.
Kotsu, kotsu.
――――Kotsu.
It stops.
Houzuki slowly looked up and saw a figure reflected in the frosted glass fitted into the door.
It is extremely tall, and its neck is so thin that it is hard to believe that it is human. However, its head is large, and one wonders if its thin neck can support such a large head.
The figure, whose whole body was trembling, opened the door forcefully.
“…………Hh”
Houzuki almost screams.
A female teacher stepped into the classroom. Although she is dressed in clean clothes, there are red stains on the fabric, and she doesn’t want to imagine what happened to her.
However, her face was in such a terrible state that it was unbearable to look at. The center of her face is sunken, and the skin on her face is pulled, as if it’s swirling around her. Her facial features are not very clear either, and calling her a monster isn’t an overstatement.
Forcibly swallowing the scream that rose to her throat, Houzuki hurriedly averted her gaze from the female teacher. She lowered her gaze to the desk covered in scratches caused by that male student’s words, and clasped her shaking hands to suppress her fear.
Kotsu, kotsu.
Kotsu, kotsu.
The female teacher crosses the classroom and stands in front of her lectern.
With a depressed look on her face, she looked around at the desolate looking classroom. She doesn’t say anything, not even a moan. That feels very scary.
Despite that, that male student was acting normal.
“Stand.”
It’s the command of the silver-haired male student――Yuiru Enen.
Houzuki instinctively knew that she had to follow that command.
Suppressing the urge to run away immediately, she stood up from the chair with a thud. But she never looks up. If she makes eye contact with that female teacher, it’s over.
“Bow.”
Houzuki slowly bows in time with Yuiru’s movements.
“Sit.”
She slowly sits in the chair.
What will happen next? Could it be that she will devour the student she doesn’t recognize starting from the head.
Houzuki regrets what happened in the past, thinking she shouldn’t have carelessly visited the old school building. If I’m going to be in danger, I will run and escape from here.
The female teacher, her face sunken, turns her back to Houzuki and picks up the chalk on the blackboard.
Gotsu, gotsu. (TN: chalk on blackboard)
Gotsu, gotsu.
The dull sound of chalk hitting the blackboard hit Houzuki’s earlobes.
When she gingerly looked up, she saw that the female teacher was not looking at her, but was writing what appeared to be words on the blackboard.
It was so dirty that it was impossible to discern any writing, and there were many lines drawn on it that looked like earthworms had writhing around it. She(H) has absolutely no idea what she’s writing.
Ga, gatsu. (TN: still chalk on blackboard)
Gatsu, gatsu.
The female teacher stopped tapping the chalk on the blackboard and turned to the teacher’s desk.
Is that a textbook on the teacher’s desk? She has no idea what subject she is studying, but she is flipping through the textbook with her long fingers.
The female teacher stopped flipping through her textbook and looked around the classroom, her face sunken. No matter how hard she looks around, there are no other students in this classroom other than Houzuki and Yuiru.
The female teacher, holding a piece of chalk in one hand, turned her back to Houzuki again.
Gatsu, gatsu.
Gatsu, gatsu.
Unsure of what she was thinking, the female teacher slides a piece of chalk onto the blackboard and begins writing incomprehensible characters.
Maybe she’s trying to teach a class?
She looks at the words written on the old blackboard, then erases the words with the blackboard eraser in the corner. Then she began writing the same writhing worm letters, and she nodded in understanding. Did she not like the arrangement of the letters?
“Hey, hey. Is this a class…?”
“Wow, I can’t believe you’re talking to me even though we’re in class. You’re pretty good at tricks, too.”
Yuiru grinned and said,
“That’s right, this is a class for her. She writes incomprehensible words, turns over the textbook, and goes back to writing on the blackboard. At this time, the students do not say anything, just silently look down and pray that the class will end. Well now, it must be quite boring.”
“When will it end?”
“Let me see. Well, I guess it’s around the time when normal classes end.”
Does that mean she has to keep her head down for almost 50 minutes?
In the meantime, she has to keep her head down while praying that the female teacher doesn’t come near her.
It’s surprisingly painful, but it’s the only way to survive. There is no way to fight against that female teacher.
It would be nice if she could devise countermeasures like with the Kuchisake Onna and Hanako-san, but there are no countermeasures against this female teacher.
“Hey, forward.”
“Huh?”
Yuiru grins happily,
“You shouldn’t talk during class, right? “Teacher” just caught you.”
“Eh――――”
A cold feeling ran down Houzuki’s spine.
Kotsu, kotsu.
She heard footsteps.
They were the heels worn by female teachers, and Houzuki hurriedly turned back to the blackboard, lowering her gaze to the desk and holding her breath without moving.
She mustn’t look, she mustn’t look, she tells himself firmly. She never knew what would happen if she made eye contact with that female teacher with that sunken face.
Kotsu, kotsu.
The footsteps gradually approach.
A tattered heel was reflected in the corner of Houzuki’s vision as she stared intently at the damaged surface of the desk.
She lets out a “Hiih” cry as she felt the coldness right next to her. She hurriedly covered her mouth and closed her eyes tightly.
Ji~. (TN: sta~re)
She could feel the female teacher looking into her face.
Even though she’s closing her eyes, the gaze pierces her mercilessly. She’s tempted to open her eyes, but she stopped herself with reason. There is no way she can look straight at someone with such a horrifying face.
‘Please, go away’―― as she prayed desperately, the short time that felt so long passed.
Kotsu, kotsu.
Kotsu, kotsu.
Shaking her whole body, the female teacher closed her eyes and distanced herself from Houzuki, who was looking down. It seems she managed to get away with it.
Houzuki lets out a sigh of relief and glares at Yuiru.
Wasn’t it because of this male student that the terrifying female teacher found out? I gave him a sharp look as if to say that, but the other person wore a face that said he had no idea.
“It’s your fault, isn’t it?”
Yuiru said with a deep sense of joy,
“It would have been fine had you just stayed quiet, why did you talk to me? Since this is a “class”, you only have to wait for it to end, right?”
“…………”
This time, Houzuki didn’t try to argue. If she replies to this conversation, she most likely fall prey to that female teacher again.
Averting her gaze, Houzuki simply waited for the moment when the female teacher’s class would end. She prayed as she checked the broken clock that it would all be okay.
The sound of the female teacher’s chalk constantly echoes throughout the classroom, as she lines up gibberish letters that look like countless earthworms writhing on the old blackboard.
Gatsu, gatsu.
Gatsu, gotsu.
Occasionally, she flips over the textbook on the teacher’s desk and slides the chalk on the blackboard again.
Gotsu, gotsu.
Gotsu, gotsu.
――Bera, pera. (TN: pages being turned)
Gotsu, gotsu.
Gotsu, gotsu.
As the female teacher draws the line countless times, the moment Houzuki has been waiting for finally arrives.
Gara~n, goro~n. (TN: chime)
The distorted sound of a bell echoes throughout the old school building.
The female teacher was engrossed in drawing lines on the blackboard, but suddenly stopped when the bell rang. Putting her chipped piece of chalk back in its place, she turned to the teacher’s table.
She then stopped moving, looking around her classroom with a hideous expression on her face. She is waiting for Yuiru’s command.
“Stand.”
Yuiru and Houzuki stand up at the same time as the command.
“Bow.”
After bowing quietly, the female teacher left the classroom carrying an old textbook.
Kotsu kotsu, the sound of her footsteps are getting farther.
It looks like that tense class ended successfully.
“I’m so glad……”
Houzuki sat down in a chair and let out a sigh of relief.
For now, there’s something she needs to do.
To punch that silver-haired male student who still has that grin on his face.
