The Diary (2) ****
"Alright~, the absent students today are… Kon, Millie, and Mia, just those three, right? We'll skip the roll call~. Class president."
"Yes, sir. Everyone, attention. Bow."
""Good morning!""
The homeroom teacher came in and started the morning meeting just like usual.
The students also greeted him as usual and focused on what the teacher had to say.
'Does that mean… I'm the only one who can see that thing.'
The woman who had followed the homeroom teacher in a moment ago and was standing there blankly.
The atmosphere she gave off felt so inhuman that I was afraid to make eye contact.
And with a glance, I looked at Ellie, who was in a seat far away.
"...."
She had her head bowed low with an anxious face and her shoulders were trembling.
• • •
Author: Ares
Title: Hey, can you guys see it??
[Photo]
I think that's Ellie's mother who was written about in the diary
• • •
Comments
[ㅇㅇ I see it]
[Wow fuck, if I ran into that at night I'd piss my pants]
[NightRat: How are the other people reacting??]
ㄴ[Ares: It seems like they can't see it. What do I do now.]
ㄴ[NightRat: Looking at the first day's diary, there's nothing other than the part about seeing the mother]
ㄴ[NightRat: So try doing something that would change the diary's content]
An action that would change the diary's content….
The future diary I read yesterday.
Among its pages, the entry for today's date only had content about Ellie seeing her mother behind the homeroom teacher.
What should I do to change the diary's content?
What if I get rid of that mother right now?
But I had no way to get rid of the mother right now.
If so, the thing to do now.
It was clear.
—To add content that wasn't in the diary.
"Alright, then, nothing unusual for today. I'll ask just in case, but does anyone have any questions? …I suppose not——."
"Teacher."
Flick!
I raised my hand, timing it with the teacher's morning Q&A session.
At that, the homeroom teacher, with an annoyed expression, let out a small sigh and looked at me.
"Yes, Ares. You may go to the restroom."
"That's not it, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"By any chance, have you ever done something wrong that would make a female ghost cling to you?"
"I have not. Follow me to the faculty office."
"Yes, sir!"
Murmur, murmur.
The kids in the class looked at me as if I were a madman.
A gaze that seemed to say, 'What the hell is that bastard doing?'
Aah…, Levin. You're the only one who chuckles and looks at me cutely even in a situation like this.
"Wh-what's going on? Ares…, did you eat something weird this morning?"
Just then, Lana approached me with a flustered face.
"…Lana, you can't see it either?"
"Huh? See what…?"
Was this an act? Or was it genuine?
Lana was definitely an anomaly, so could she not see Ellie's mother?
Just then, I stealthily shifted my gaze and looked at Ellie's seat.
And our eyes met with Ellie, who was looking this way in bewilderment.
It seemed she had noticed that I had mentioned her mother.
"What the hell is it? Ares. Saying weird things like 'female ghost'."
At Lana's continuing question, I raised my voice slightly so that Ellie could hear.
"The truth is, I have the constitution to see things."
"See things?"
"Yeah, ghosts stick to me often. A few days ago, a girl even knocked on my door every night."
"...."
Lana was silent for a moment, then turned and walked away from her seat.
It seemed she couldn't give up on the 'human' concept just yet.
• • •
Author: Ares
Title: There's no such thing as a school record score here, right??
It's not like I'll be fucked if I get on the homeroom teacher's bad side, right?
I just have to not get a failing grade on the exams, right??
• • •
Comments
[StudentCouncilTerrorist: ㅇㅇ that's right, but why are you asking??]
ㄴ[Ares: No, it's just]
ㄴ[NightRat: What did this bastard do again;;]
ㄴ[Ares: I'm seriously looking for a way to beat this ghost story ㅡㅡ]
"Ares, did you eat something you shouldn't have?"
"No, sir."
"Then why did you suddenly spout such nonsense?"
"Teacher, the truth is, I have a constitution that lets me see things…."
"Stop with the nonsense."
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry."
After going to the faculty office, I was scolded by the teacher who was preparing for class.
He asked why I was suddenly acting up when I usually participated diligently in class.
Was I starting to go astray now that I was hanging out with girls recently?
In many ways, he scolded me like a very normal teacher.
'This person is probably an anomaly too, right…?'
Well, the ones I had to be careful of were mainly the female students anyway.
It was probably fine to just see the teacher as a teacher.
"Um~, Mr. Blen?"
"Ah, yes. …What can I do for you?"
Just then, a beautiful female teacher, the homeroom teacher of the class next door, called out to my homeroom teacher.
At that, my homeroom teacher put on his handsomest smile, left me standing there, and started a conversation with the beautiful female teacher.
'Now's my chance…!'
In fact, being called to the faculty office was part of my plan!
The homeroom teacher, who turned his body to talk, was right in front of me.
Meaning, diagonally to my side.
Ellie's mother was standing there blankly.
"...."
Now that I was close, it was a chance to test various things.
First, observation.
Hmm…, her facial features resembled Ellie.
However, her hair color was different.
The mother anomaly's appearance was like a black and white photograph; her skin and clothes were pure white, while her hair and pupils were pitch black.
And…
'…They're big.'
They were big.
I will omit the detailed explanation.
Ellie takes after her mom, I see….
• • •
Author: Ares
Title: Test complete
This humble self got called to the faculty office and naturally approached the homeroom teacher.
And the fact I learned.
The Ellie's mother anomaly can be physically touched.
• • •
Comments
[What did you do to get called to the faculty office??? lolololol]
[Hikikomori: Wow, what a heart of steel. I'd be too scared to even get close.]
[NightRat: Did you touch it?? How was it??]
ㄴ[Ares: First of all, it was super soft and heavy. It was fucking squishy, but I couldn't feel any body heat. It would be cool to hug in the summer]
ㄴ[NightRat: No, you crazy bastard;;; I'm asking if it reacted when you touched it]
ㄴ[Ares: Ah]
ㄴ[StudentCouncilTerrorist: Ah, my ass lololololol]
ㄴ[LunchboxCollector: No, you actually thought to touch that??? Are you a real fucking psycho??? lololololol]
ㄴ[Wow lolololol how far is this bastard willing to go]
This was a misunderstanding.
Everyone was misunderstanding me without knowing my detailed circumstances.
I didn't have any lewd thoughts.
…It wasn't that I didn't have any, I had a little.
I mean, with a ghost-like anomaly like that, if you were going to touch it, shouldn't you touch a less scary place?
And if you were going to die after touching it, shouldn't you touch a place you wouldn't regret?
All of this was part of my meticulous plan, but the gallery bastards couldn't understand me.
"From now on, don't do anything strange."
"Yes, sir! I'll be careful!"
"Good, you may go back."
Fortunately, after only receiving a verbal scolding from the teacher, I returned to the classroom.
"...."
"...."
Just then.
I made eye contact with Ellie, who was secretly watching from the faculty office door.
Uh....
Did she see?
"H-hiih…!"
Scamper!
I guess she saw.
...How do I explain this?
• • •
Author: Ares
Title: Seriously, let's put our heads together and think
I was testing something in the faculty office just now
And Ellie was watching
What do I say??
• • •
Comments
[RedNightSky: lololololol]
ㄴ[Ares: No;; I really fucking need help]
ㄴ[RedNightSky: What is there to say lolololol you're nothing more than a pervert who'd fuck anything]
ㄴ[This bastard really thought he could explain this away???]
[NightRat: ....]
ㄴ[Ares: Zhuge Liang, don't you have a good idea??? Please help me TTT]
ㄴ[NightRat: It's not a matter of life and death, so just endure it.]
ㄴ[Ares: Ah, please TTTT]
Misunderstanding piled on top of misunderstanding.
It was unfair.
My life was on the line, so I couldn't help it.
'…What if Ellie is a real human?'
Would Ellie choose to be with a male student who conducted …that kind of test on her mother's ghost on graduation day?
"Uuugh…."
No, that's not it.
There was still plenty of time.
There were still three years left anyway, so I just needed to change my image in that time.
The important thing right now was to clear the diary prophecy event that was happening now.
I decided to endure the misunderstanding with Ellie for the time being.
But…
"U-u-um, um…, Ares…!"
"Huh…?"
"B-by any chance…, would you like to eat lunch ...together today?"
"Huhh…?"
"If possible…, just the two of us…."
"...."
Completely unexpectedly, Ellie was the first to speak to me.
…But why?
By common sense, if she saw what she saw earlier, she should want to avoid getting close to me for at least a month, right?
I didn't know the reason, but I decided to eat lunch with her anyway.
Since we decided to eat together, I told Levin and Lana in advance.
"Ehh~? Why? Who are you eating with this time, ditching me? Let me eat with you too~."
"No can do. Today is really not a good day."
"…Then who is it? Can't you at least tell me who it is?"
"...."
"…Is it Ellie, by any chance?"
How did she know…?
"What, so it is Ellie? Hmph…, you like them that big, huh…?"
"...."
Lana looked at me with anomaly-like eyes while saying a rom-com-like line.
Was this jealousy…? Lana seemed to have great acting skills.
Anyway,
After this and that, lunchtime arrived, and Ellie and I headed to the stairs at the end of the hall, just the two of us.
The east stairs, 5th floor.
It was the most remote spot in this academy where students didn't go.
"...."
"...."
We maintained a moment of silence and picked at our lunchboxes.
And the one to break the silence first was Ellie.
"U-u-um…. Ares…."
"Yeah?"
"About earlier…, the question you asked the teacher during the morning meeting…."
"Aah, yeah."
"C-can you really see…?"
"...."
The reason Ellie invited me to lunch even after seeing the test scene in the faculty office.
It was to ask if I could see her mother.
'This is a chance.'
A chance to clear my name had arrived.
"Of course I can see her. I …have the constitution to see things, you see."
"See things…?"
"Yeah, I'm the type of person that ghosts and anomalies get involved with easily."
"I-I see…! So that's why you can see her…!"
Ellie believed my words without question and smiled faintly.
That pure smile was quite cute.
More importantly, from here on was crucial.
"You get it, right? Ellie. I'm saying this just in case, but what you saw in the faculty office …was a test."
"A test…?"
"Yeah, you know, there's a ghost attached to the teacher's back, right?"
"Yeah…."
"It was the most certain way to test if that ghost was a dangerous one."
"Yeah…, eh, uh, i-is that so?"
"Of course! If it wasn't, why would I do something like that!"
"Hwaaah…, i-indeed…, I see…. I-I'm sorry, Ares! I was misunderstanding you!"
"Mm, it's fine as long as you understand."
• • •
Author: Ares
Title: Solved it, you foolish mortals.
I'm now on terms to eat lunch with Ellie again.
Yare yare, to think it was this easy
• • •
Comments
[StudentCouncilTerrorist: ???????]
ㄴ[StudentCouncilTerrorist: That worked???]
[What are you talking about??? You ate lunch after that???]
[NightRat: Does this bastard have a hypnosis app exclusive perk or something??;;;]
[LunchboxCollector: Wow;;; fucking hell, I should've known when the sexually harassed bitch started clinging to him;;; Teacher, I respect you so much]
After clearing up Ellie's misunderstanding, I talked with her about her mother.
It mostly became an atmosphere where Ellie was consulting me about her worries.
Why her mother was attached to the teacher.
What had happened between her and her mother.
Well, I had already grasped the general story from the diary, so I just played along and listened to her story.
"Alright, I'll help you. Ellie."
"H-huh? Really?"
"Yeah, let's put our heads together and find a way to help your mother pass on."
"…Hwaaah, hic, …thank you! Thank you, Ares…!"
Ellie even welled up with tears as she thanked me.
'This girl really seems human.'
After that, Ellie smiled and we promised to eat lunch together again next time, then we returned to the classroom.
The misunderstanding was moderately cleared up, and we became quite a bit closer.
Not a bad result.
After that, until dismissal, I observed the homeroom teacher and the mother anomaly to grasp the situation.
In the end, there was nothing I could find out.
But…
The most important result of the day still remained.
"Phew…, the problem is this…."
After school, in the dormitory.
Ellie's future diary lay on my desk in my room.
This was the most important thing today.
Today's story, which was definitely different from Ellie's diary.
As a result, had the future in Ellie's diary changed?
"...."
Holding my breath, I carefully opened the future diary.
[ㅁㅁMonth ㅁㅁDay]
Today, I saw mother for the first time in a long time
Mother was standing behind the homeroom professor
What could it be this time
"...."
I slowly read down the diary entry.
And
But a male classmate suddenly asked the teacher a question.
A story about mother.
It was Ares.
Ares can see mother.
Why? How??
I followed him when he was called to the faculty office.
Can he really see her?
Or is he just playing a prank?
And what I saw in the faculty office was Ares….
"It worked—!!"
I confirmed that it had changed.
It was definitely a changed content, with a longer text added to the diary I had read yesterday.
My actions changed the diary.
Meaning, the contents of the diary could be changed.
"Alright…."
If so, what I had to do now was set.
—Whatever method it took, I had to change the diary's future and survive.
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