The Haunted Classroom and the Teacher’s Despair

L-L-Leidi-chan… That wasn’t me, you know…

Aki stammered, turning only her head, her expression growing increasingly subtle.

“Hmm… I know. It was just in front of me a moment ago…”

Leidi reached up to touch his head, his expression mirroring hers in its subtlety.

“S-So… that means…?”

Takagi’s eyelids trembled as her head slowly drooped.

“D-Don’t scare me like that!”

Ami shook Takagi forcefully, though she seemed to have no idea what purpose her actions served, perhaps simply wanting something tangible to hold onto in her fear.

“Exactly! How could that be possible? Right? Haha? Haha…”

Even Takagi began to doubt her own eyes, her voice growing increasingly uncertain.

Moments before, as if by instantaneous movement, Takagi’s phone had vanished from Aki’s hand, only to reappear out of thin air above Leidi’s head, striking him with a light thud.

Apart from those directly involved, the rest of the class, utterly bewildered, retreated to the sidelines, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the bizarre phenomenon.

“L-Leidi-kun… I didn’t mean to, really…”

Yamada, who had momentarily been the center of attention, now cowered at the very back of the crowd, apologizing timidly and fearfully, though it was unclear if this apology was even his to make.

Surveying the chaotic scene, Leidi, perhaps sensing the need to intervene, rose to his feet.

“Everyone, don’t—”

“Whap!”

Startled by the sudden sound, Leidi’s words were abruptly cut short.

For just then, another small object materialized above his head, poised to fall, but Colt, with swift reflexes, snatched it from the air.

The classmates who had witnessed the entire sequence of events first fell into a deathly silence, and then—

“Waaah—!!!”

A chorus of screams erupted as they scrambled, tumbling over each other in their haste to escape the classroom.

“Wait for us!”

came five frantic cries.

As those closest to the inexplicable event, Colt and her companions, their faces etched with panic, likewise fled in their wake.

“Th-th-th-that, Leidi-chan, what did Colt catch? It’s not anything strange, is it?”

After escaping the eerie classroom, Takagi, adjusting her glasses, shakily pointed a finger at Colt’s tightly clenched hand.

Under everyone’s anxious gaze, Colt carefully opened her palm, only to reveal a small, pink, circular mirror.

“This, it looks like my compact mirror…”

one of the girls volunteered, the one who sat beside Colt.

“But why would this fall on Leidi-chan’s head…?”

As they stared at the small mirror in Colt’s hand, everyone fell into a profound silence.

“It really is haunted, isn’t it…?”

The moment these words were uttered, everyone’s faces turned a ghastly shade of pale.

‘Yamada-kun… you truly are an idiot, aren’t you? That’s just adding fuel to the fire!’

“What’s going on, everyone? Class is about to start. Why are you all outside the classroom?”

The math teacher appeared, textbooks in hand.

“Teacher, teacher! It’s bad! The classroom is haunted!”

“That’s right! We just barely escaped!”

Two boys gesticulated wildly, offering a highly exaggerated explanation to the teacher.

“Even if my lessons aren’t the most exciting, that’s no excuse, is it?!”

The teacher remarked, a subtle expression on his face, as he delivered a light chop to the heads of each of the two boys.

“No, really, Teacher, it’s true! We can all attest to it.”

“Exactly! And Colt even has the evidence in her hand!”

Seeing the boys’ efforts falter, the girls, too, stepped forward to offer their support.

“Oh? Then let me see this evidence.”

With that, Colt handed the mirror in her hand to the teacher, whose face was etched with skepticism.

He likely still didn’t believe them.

“What could a mere mirror possibly prove?”

As expected, the teacher offered a perfectly reasonable outsider’s perspective, for he had not experienced the events that had just transpired.

“And this too! Just now, this phone also fell on Leidi-chan’s head, just like the mirror you’re holding, Teacher!”

Takagi, in her haste, pulled out her own phone as further proof, but…

“Takagi! Phones are strictly forbidden at school! I’m confiscating this now. Come to my office after school!”

“No way!”

The phone was confiscated by the exasperated teacher.

Although everyone protested on her behalf, the teacher remained utterly deaf to their pleas.

How truly pitiful.

The teacher, textbooks in hand, walked into the classroom, yet not a single student followed.

After such an incident, who would dare to enter?

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you coming in?”

The teacher’s tone carried a hint of irritation.

“Teacher, what everyone said just now is true. We’re a bit afraid to go in,”

Leidi stepped forward, speaking on behalf of his classmates.

“Leidi-kun, as the top student in your grade, you shouldn’t be lying, should you…?”

The teacher seemed to grow even angrier.

‘Wait, Leidi is the top student in our grade?!’

“No, no, no, I’m not lying, this is truly happening,”

Leidi explained, waving his hands.

“Even if you’re not lying, you still have to attend class.”

The teacher, fuming, turned his back and began writing on the blackboard.

‘He’s clearly not believing us at all, is he?! Everyone’s on the verge of tears!’

“Teacher, we can have class, but please, not in this classroom!”

“That’s right, Teacher, you should come out quickly too; it’s genuinely haunted in there.”

“We don’t want to go in!”

Everyone continued to plead, clinging to hope, but the teacher silently continued writing on the blackboard.

The class bell rang twice, yet they remained standing outside the classroom door.

“What’s wrong with all of you? Do you dislike my class that much?”

More than anger, exasperation was clearly etched on the teacher’s face.

“It’s not that we don’t want to attend your class, Teacher; it’s just that this classroom is truly haunted.”

“Then can you explain why nothing has happened to me, your teacher?”

“Uh… well, that…”

Their argument was instantly refuted, leaving everyone stammering.

The current situation seemed utterly unresolvable.

‘Come to think of it, why did the paranormal activity suddenly stop? If only it would happen just one more time, to prove our innocence.’

“Are you still not coming in for class?”

“We don’t dare to enter…”

came the collective reply.

“You’re really not coming in?”

“We truly don’t dare to enter!”

they asserted unanimously.

It seemed everyone was far more afraid of the invisible entity inside than of their angry teacher.

“You lot…”

‘It felt as though the teacher had to force those words through clenched teeth… How terrifying…’

“If you truly don’t wish to have class in this room, then all of you may go to Class A. Their morning lessons are identical to ours, and their curriculum progression is the same. I will speak with their teacher.”

“Hooray! Long live the teacher!”

they cheered in unison.

In the end, the teacher, sighing and rubbing his forehead, yielded to their demands, and the students erupted in cheers.

…

However, in stark contrast to their jubilant faces, the teacher’s expression, as he gazed at them with profound melancholy, was absolutely of Dead Sea-level despair.

‘We’re sorry, Teacher, but everyone was genuinely terrified.’