Chapter 94 - Chapter 0: The Story Before the Story Begins, Part 3
Despite the entire town being in a power outage, light was leaking brightly from the windows of the Second Junior High School, which I had attended until two years ago. The floodlights for the baseball club at the corner of the large ground were lit, and the figures of people carrying out tents could be seen. In the staff room on the second floor, multiple silhouettes were busily running around.
Despite being near my house, the last time I passed near the junior high school was over half a year ago. I felt somewhat nostalgic remembering my junior high school life, but now is not the time to be immersed in such sentimentality. The school gate was wide open, and several nearby residents who seemed to have come because they felt anxious, just like me, were stepping onto the junior high school grounds.
By the side of the school gate was a familiar face. My third-year junior high school homeroom teacher, Nakatani-sensei. He was teased plenty for his protruding belly and thinning hair, but I think he's a good teacher who was also respected. His subject was English, and he was a teacher who did his best to improve my English grades, which were always on the verge of failing.
"Sensei!"
"Oh, isn't it been a while. Have you been doing well?"
It seems Sensei remembered me. However, now is not the time for nostalgic stories. Seeing Sensei's grim expression, I cut the greetings short.
"Sensei, did you see the plane just now? And the news said riots have occurred..."
"I didn't see the plane crash directly, but I went up to the roof and saw only the smoke and flames. The news about the riots also seems to be true. Just a while ago, there was an instruction from the city hall via the disaster radio to open an evacuation center."
I had hoped it was some kind of hoax, but it seems it wasn't. Apparently, they are currently carrying out the work to open the evacuation center according to the pre-arranged manual.
"Soon, many residents who feel anxious will probably come here. That's right, won't you help too? Several graduates have already come and are working as volunteers. The guys from the former 3rd Year Class B are also here."
Since our paths after graduation were varied, there were only about one or two opportunities a year to meet former classmates. Even if I happened to see them at the station or something, there was no opportunity to talk deeply. Even though it's a time like this, if I can meet them, I want to. I accepted Sensei's request without hesitation. Rather than staying still in the schoolyard or gymnasium, information will gather as I go around the school building while helping with the preparations.
At the junior high school, preparations for opening the evacuation center were steadily progressing. Teachers and gathered volunteers were carrying out tents to the schoolyard and creating a roster of residents who were evacuating. Meanwhile, in the gymnasium, a line of people carrying blankets to spread on the floor and plastic bottles containing mineral water continued. Among them, several boys and girls in school uniforms were also mixed in, and I recognized one of them.
"Yoshioka! You came too?"
"You, who were you again?"
"That's harsh, I'd be hurt even if it's a lie."
"It's a lie, I remember your face and name properly."
The boy holding a bundle of blankets under both arms was Yoshioka, who had been my classmate in the third year. Since we went to different high schools after graduating junior high, there were few opportunities to meet, and in the meantime, he had apparently undergone a considerable image change. His black hair, which had been in a hairstyle like a helmet, was dyed brown and stood up with wax, and he had piercings in his ears. He looked almost like a different person, but for some reason, I immediately knew he was Yoshioka.
"Are you a volunteer too? Did you see the plane just now?"
"Yeah, I saw it. Or rather, I was recording it."
"Seriously? Show me."
When I held out the smartphone and played the video, Yoshioka stared at the screen with a grim face. Other residents and volunteers nearby also gathered and stared intently at the moment the plane crashed and exploded into flames.
"As I thought, that plane crash..."
"I don't know. My house had a power outage and I heard news that riots had occurred, so I came here thinking there might be some information."
"I see. I just happened to pass by here on my way home and came to help because the situation was unusual. The TV was in the staff room, I think. Shall we go see it after we carry this?"
I wanted to get information as soon as possible now, but I did as Yoshioka said. Whether I hurry or not, the situation won't change at all anyway. Besides, more accurate information might have gathered after a little more time has passed.
There seems to be no prospect of the power being restored yet. To begin with, when that passenger plane crashed, it cut the power lines that supply electricity to the entire city, and on top of that, it seems the tower also collapsed after being caught in the subsequent explosion. It will be a long time before the power outage is resolved. I've heard that in such cases, they get electricity shared from other regions or something, but even so, it shouldn't be something that can be managed right away.
Nearby residents were gathering one after another at the junior high school. After carrying blankets and chairs to the gymnasium and settling down, we headed for the staff room. On the way, I passed former classmates who lived nearby several times. However, they were all talking with boys and girls about my age whom I didn't know, and the atmosphere was not one where I could easily cut in. After graduating junior high, they had also made new friends just like me. To them now, I am only in the position of a member of the class they were once in.
At a time like this, those who chose a high school outside the city have it hard. In the high school I entered, there wasn't a single classmate from junior high. While I was building new friendships in high school, I became more and more distant from my junior high school friends.
To begin with, it's bad that I didn't enter a local high school. Just as my cram school instructor and parents recommended, I got carried away and took the entrance exam for a high school above my ability in the early curriculum, and I just happened to pass. As a result, while most of my classmates entered local high schools, I ended up attending a preparatory school outside the city alone. On top of that, now the intelligence I had as a junior high student has gone somewhere, and my grades are on the verge of failing every time in tests. My rank is also closer to the bottom.
Not a single high school classmate would have come to this junior high school. My high school friends all live outside the city. If Yoshioka, whom I was relatively close to, hadn't been here, even if I came to the evacuation center, my anxiety would have surely become stronger instead of being resolved.
After that, I saw several former junior high school classmates. Among them, there were apparently some who still remembered my face, and they called out to me when we passed. It felt like a small class reunion, and only while talking with them could I forget the sight I saw earlier.
"——Matsuno says he's aiming for Tokyo University. Sudo apparently wants to get a job. His dad got laid off."
"Uwa, that's tough at this time in the second year of high school."
"It seems there are guys who dropped out of high school too. I forgot the name, though."
While going back and forth between the warehouse and the gymnasium, we talked about the recent situations of ourselves and our friends. Even though we had exchanged email addresses just in case, once you enter high school, the relationship with junior high school friends naturally thins out. Especially since I was attending a high school outside the city, I had no idea who was doing what and where now. On the other hand, Yoshioka had many friends who entered the same high school, and it seemed his relationship with them was still continuing.
"I see... everyone is having a hard time in various ways..."
"Why are you saying that like it's someone else's business? You're graduating next year too, aren't you. Which university are you aiming for?"
"No, I haven't decided yet."
It wasn't words I said to show off or hide anything. I really haven't decided anything. To begin with, I haven't even been able to decide whether I want to go on to higher education or get a job. As if I were in a fog, I hadn't been able to find the path I should take.
My parents are noisy about going on to higher education and going to a national university where the tuition is cheap, but I don't even know what I'm going to university for. For study? Me, who hates study? Now it's said that you can't even get a proper job if you're not a university graduate, but to begin with, even for getting a job, although I understand the word, I can't comprehend it. I haven't been able to envision my own future.
I don't know what I should do or where I should go. All there is is a sense of blockage and impatience, like being gradually strangled by a silk cord, thinking "I must decide quickly."
"It's bad to 'not have decided yet' at this time... well, try consulting Sensei later. Even though it's a time like this, we've come to our alma mater after all."
A time like this. With those words, I came to my senses.
Now, something is changing in this world. I understood that somehow. Whether that's in a good sense, I don't know yet. However, it's certain that something is changing.
On the other side of the earth, riots are expanding, and news came in that a similar situation occurred in Japan just a while ago. Above all, the sight of the plane crashing that unfolded before my eyes. I want to think it's just an accident, but as far as I'm hearing the news, the premonition that it's not so was growing inside me.
In the staff room, several teachers still remained. The thing placed on the cabinet by the wall that looked like a radio is probably a disaster radio receiver for the local government to transmit disaster information. In front of the receiver, which was now playing noise, a female teacher with a grim face was sitting in a chair.
Faces I hadn't seen were also mixed in, but there were also faces we knew. The grade head, known for often getting angry at grade assemblies, was glaring at the TV screen installed near the ceiling in a corner of the room. No teacher reproached us for entering the staff room. As if they didn't have the leeway to care about such a thing.
"Excuse me—"
I greeted, but there was no reply. If it were the grade head we knew, a lecture would have started immediately saying "Your voice is small" or "You haven't followed the entry procedure," but he remained facing the TV as before.
"This is bad, isn't it..."
Such a voice leaked from someone's mouth. Entering the classroom quietly, the TV screen I looked up at was stained bright red.
It seems it's been used for over ten years, so did the TV break? Even as I thought so for a moment, seeing the characters for "Live" in the upper right of the screen, I understood that the TV showing the bright red footage wasn't broken.
"...Please look, currently Aoyama-dori is enveloped in flames! Right below us, rioters are attacking people, and cars that caused accidents are blocking the road! Fires can also be confirmed in the direction of Shibuya Station..."
There, the camera zoomed out, and I finally knew that the red thing filling the screen was bright red burning flames. In the screen, many passenger cars are burning. Vehicles that caused accidents are rolling here and there on the wide street, and several silhouettes could be seen running around between them. Perhaps the cameraman is nervous; the focus isn't set and it's full of camera shake, so it's not clear footage. Even so, I can tell that someone is being attacked.
Since there were words like Aoyama-dori and Shibuya, what's being shown is probably Tokyo. The bright red flames rising here and there are staining the Tokyo sky orange.
"What about the other stations?"
At the vice-principal's words, the grade head operated the channels. It should have switched to another station, but what's being shown is still a wide street lined with burning passenger cars. I thought they might be filming in the same place, but the telop "Current Fukuoka City" was displayed on the screen.
Every time the grade head operated the channels, similar sights were shown on the screen. However, the places where they were being filmed were all over the country.
In Tokyo, in Okinawa, in Hokkaido, in Osaka, in Nagoya... And it wasn't just within Japan. When switching to satellite broadcasting, footage of burning Seoul in South Korea and New York in America was played.
As expected, the world is about to change. But in a bad sense. I was starting to understand that somehow.
I'm waiting for your opinions and impressions.