Unsolicited School

Everything I've saw

you

The three look at the photographs from the computer. Mullet used the mouse and scrolled through the pictures taken from the club. Some of them were taken by the club, and some were taken by other people outside of the club. All of them were taken beautifully as the club members know all the perfect perspectives to shoot. He scrolled down the pictures as Shouko and Robbie told him.

"I'm sorry, senpai. But we had to buy another SD card. This one's out of service. Forever," said Eiji as he opened the door and walked into the room.

"Darn, looks like I had to buy another one," Piko-senpai sighed, "Anyway, there's no need to share your pictures today. Yuna and I have something to deal with. So enjoy yourselves here,"

"Ei-kun, let's go settle your pictures now while I bring my laptop," Shouko smiled at Eiji.

"Sure thing, senpai,"

"Sorry, guys. I had to go,"

Shouko left the computer and moved to the camera studio room. Her sisterly trait is clearly exposed as she walks together with that first-year boy. After she vanished from their sight, Robbie asked him to open the picture.

*Click*

Mullet's eyes focused on the picture inside of the computer. The photos they saw varied, from the school environment to the city landscapes. Some of those are taken from them. These pics are cool.

They kept looking at those beautiful pictures for roughly 8 minutes. Suddenly, the pictures switched to unsettling ones. The screen blacked out and only left the image viewer app that is still running. They panicked and tried to close the window by clicking the close (X) button repeatedly. But the window won't close – forcing them to see through those horrible pictures.

The first picture shows a black-and-white image of an aerial view of the school. The bad quality of the picture caused it looks quite blurry in several spots. Mullet and Robbie realized if the picture wasn't taken recently as its lack of front garden and fountain. Not to mention the trees aren't fully grown yet.

The second one is a low-quality picture of the black-and-white cafeteria of the school. There are two faceless male students seen walking together amongst the crowd inside. The picture shows a morbid atmosphere. But one question flew into Robbie and Mullet's brain. Who are that faceless guys? But just a few moments, they looked at those students, the picture slid to the next one itself.

"Dude, did you move it?" Robbie asked in a whisper.

"No. it moves alone itself," Mullet answered without looking at his friend.

The third picture shows a VHS tape lied on a wooden table. This time, it's colorized. Followed by the fourth picture that shows a note typed by a typewriter. Accompanied by an unsettling static noise deafen the duo. The text is written in a code that they don't know. But it reads :

69 74 27 73 20 74 69 6D 65 20 74 6F

6D 61 6B 65 20 61 20 6D 6F 76 65

After those pictures has been shown, the computer went to stop error and blacked out. The computer restarts itself, and everything is back to normal as nothing happened.

"Dude! Check those pictures again! Delete them quick!" asked Robbie.

Mullet quickly rifled his cursor toward the explorer and browsed the gallery, pointing at the folder with the photo they saw just before. His eyeballs examine through the pictures like a scanner. But those pictures were no more to be seen. It feels like those pictures swept away from the hard drive.

"Gosh, where did it go?" Robbie asked.

"I dunno," Mullet answered, "Was that a virus?"

"Alright, I guess that'll do, thanks Shouko-chan,"

Piko-senpai's voice broke the duo's focus. They looked at him as Piko-senpai walked out of the camera studio room. Followed by Yuna-senpai, Shouko, and Eiji as their business has done. Mullet and Robbie froze their muscles to see them.

"Okay, dudes. The club time's over. We are going to the teacher's office to do some paperwork. Y'all can go home now," Piko-senpai smiled mildly, "Let's go, Yuna,"

The duo obeyed that laid-back upperclassman and walked out from the club room in four. Followed by Yuna-senpai and Piko-senpai, who locked the door behind them. The hallway on the fifth floor is almost empty, with only a few students roaming around like a wanderer.

"I'm sorry, Eiji. I can't buy those groceries for dinner. The ATM is out of service. Can you please buy them?" Shouko asked.

"Sure. It's okay," Eiji answered.

Their conversation made Mullet and Robbie confused. Mullet's conscience call told him to ask her relationship. But only to be defeated by Robbie as he asked the same thing first.

"Excuse me, Shouko. May I ask you one thing?"

Shouko nodded.

"No offense, but what is your relationship with Eiji anyway?"

"Oh. He's my cousin. Why?"

"Cousin?" Robbie repeated.

"I lived in her house, senpai," Eiji answered.

"Well, alright then,"

Shouko continues to talk to Eiji again after Robbie shuts his mouth. He had no further questions and chances to ask. Not to mention he had his answers enough.

"Yo, Mullet. May I have a moment?" Robbie asked Mullet as they walked a few meters in front of him.

"Sure,"

"Hideki says he had a surprise for us on our shoes. Let's check it out,"

The duo proceeds to the shoe locker room. There are no students in the room as everyone is busy with their club activities. The silent atmosphere makes an advantage for them to see what happened to their shoes. But only for a short amount of time as the weather turned cloudy, and it will be ready to drop their showers in a few minutes.

Robbie opened shoe locker 191 and 192 - his locker and Mullet's locker. As he expected, his shoes were filled with sharp things like thumbtacks, razor blades, and some spare stationary blades. Mullet grunted as he had to walk with b****y feet. Those losers again!

"Dagnabbit, Mullet. Put out our shoes and those blades. I got an idea," Robbie asked.

Robbie pulled out a small letter from his pocket and opened four lockers written in that letter. Mullet pulls out his shoes from the locker and waits for the command.

"Are you gonna pay back those goons?" asked Mullet as he knew about Robbie's sleazy idea.

"Yeah. We had to teach them a lesson again. Payback is real," Robbie replied, "Put them all in,"

Mullet agreed with Robbie's plans and placed those sharp things from his shoes in the bullies' shoes as an act of vengeance for what they did to them. His eyeballs focused on two lockers with numbers 176 and 147. He fills the shoes and the locker with sharp blades and thumbtacks. Even it's not full, but it's enough to satisfy their anger. Heh, you guys are an i***t. Do you think we are scared of you?

After Mullet filled the shoes, Robbie handed him a ketchup sauce. But only to be stowed back into his pocket.

"I changed my mind. This one's too far," said Robbie.

"Yeah, don't,"

The duo closed the locker and replaced their shoes before they walked away from the shoe locker room. The clouds from outside dimmed the shoe locker room as the lamps weren't switched on yet. This also forced the students from outside to get back into the class if the rain kicked in.

Mullet and Robbie walked into the restroom to wash their hands like a murderer who cleaned his hands after mutilating a corpse. The tap water from the sink is very cold as it matches the current weather and shivers their hands as they are done cleaning up their hands.

"Robbie, would you like to go to the park with me?"

"Sure, why?" Robbie nodded.

"I wanna free my mind there, ya know?" Mullet rejoindered.

"Why not? That's a good idea,"

The duo walked out to the school lobby first. After a can of latte drink, they continued to the school park (It's more like a forest park in the school). They walked through the red pathway and looked around the trees that standing tall. After 5 minutes of walking, they decided to sit down on a bench next to a pond and chit-chatting.

"Man. This school is so beautiful and awesome," Mullet smiled.

"Yeah. All horror and mysteries aside. This school really made me happy tho," Robbie replied.

"I wanna stay in this school if there's no such dark mystery in this school,"

"Me too,"

"Various clubs, Beautiful view, Panoramic sight of the city we can view from the rooftop, cafeteria, lunch, and vending machines. Enough for clubless to linger or procrastinate until five," said Mullet, "This school is paradise, man."

"Yeah," Robbie nodded, "But you better take your words back there,"

"Huh?"

"You said lunch, right? You already know it,"

"Oh yeah, I recalled that one. Apart from the cafeteria is spacious," Mullet replied.

"You wanna bring your bento from now on?"

"Yeah," Mullet nodded, "I will,"

"Mullet, I think we better meet Alco-san tonight than tomorrow," Robbie changed the topic as there is nothing they can discuss for a short time.

"Sure. I can ride you there,"

"With that world war 2 style motorbike?" Robbie asked.

"Yeah. Why not?" Mullet nodded, "Tell me your address,"

"Southwest suburban, Cherry St. number 7,"

"Hey, that's not far from my home," Mullet replied, "I lived at southwest suburban too but at Blueberry St. number 8,"

"That's cool. By the way, let's share the phone number just in case,"

Mullet pulled his phone and opened the contact app to share his number with Robbie. His gold bar-shaped phone casing made his phone looks expensive (Actually, it is). Mullet looked at Robbie's phone case. It's shaped like a retro handheld console. The buttons on it made Robbie's phone akin to a real handheld gaming console.

"Your phone case is really cool," Mullet snickered, "I thought it's a handheld gaming console,"

"Yours too. Looks like real gold, dude,"

BUDABLING

The sound from their phones signaled the number had been shared. Mullet directly locked his phone and put it into his left pocket. They stood from the bench and walked out of the park as the cloud from outside was getting darker than before. Just after the duo walked out of the park, Mullet heard a voice behind the school, only about ten meters from where they were standing. He immediately lifts his fist to the air – signaling Robbie to stop.

"What's the matter?" Robbie asked.

"Shhhh," Mullet turned back with his index finger on his lips, "Follow me,"

Mullet quickly sneaked to the bushes, followed by Robbie as he commanded to follow him. Luckily, the bushes covered them from all sides (except the back where it's the entrance). Therefore, no one saw them as they stalked like a paparazzi.

Mullet and Robbie opened the bush a little bit to reveal who was talking. It's Sena again. She's looking up and down while she goes back and forth like a confused girl. The duo keeps glaring at her until she speaks to herself.

"Gosh, where is it? And what is going on here?"

The duo eavesdrop on her as she acts weirdly.

"I have seen this spot repetitively. But what is it?!"

Wait, what?

"Robbie. Do you still remember that she visited this place a week ago?" Mullet asked in a whisper.

"Oh yeah, you asked me to team up, right?" Robbie nodded.

"Yes,"

"Oh, yeah. I remember. She came here and asked us to leave," Robbie turned his gaze to Mullet, "I know what you're meaning. Has she come here repeatedly?"

"I dunno. But I think she is,"

Again. While they zipped their mouth and gazed at that girl as she kept looking around at the same spot - doing the monotonous movement. She's walking around and looking up and down with her hand on her hips. Lucky enough, no one's around there to stop her weird behavior, except for the two who currently stalk her.

"Antenna. It's an antenna. But what's the relationship between the antenna of the school and someone here?"

Sena's words made the duo shocked. They recalled Alco-san's story where Shion's was similar to what they heard before.

Students said she jumped from the roof to her death. Her midriff was torn by an antenna.

Antenna. It's an antenna. But what's the relationship between the antenna of the school and someone here?

Those two words echoed inside of Mullet's brain. Even though he already knows those words are similar, but it forced him to think harder. His mind-mixed soul confuses him to ask that girl. But he had to obey the rules "not to let the school know," In the end, Mullet remained silent as he had no idea what to do.

Just after a few seconds, the rain stars showering the whole city. As the two know, everything's back to normal, and nothing dangerous happened. Sena opened her umbrella and continued looking. But not for the two, who had to back to school before their uniform was soaked and dirty. Mullet ended their stalking and asked Robbie to get back to the school lobby before he got drenched. Finally, the two left the bushes and ran into with their uniforms still dry.

Robbie bought another two water bottles from the vending machine. One for him and one for Mullet. They drank the water in a few gulps to race for who finished first. Funny enough, it ended up as a tie. Mullet wanted to ask him questions after the water bottle was emptied. Only to be canceled as some students from outside entering the lobby. They waited for 5 minutes there until all of the students were gone, including the school guard.

"Robbie, do you think Sena knows about this too?"

"I don't know. But I think not. As the shadow dude said, only we know everything about this,"

"Oh, sorry. I forgot we shouldn't let anyone know about this,"

"One more thing. What time is it?" Mullet asked.

Robbie looked at his watch. The time is shown at 4:40 PM, 20 minutes before the final school bell ring. Suddenly, Robbie remembers that the bullies will change their shoes with the thumbtacks-filled ones.

"Dude, we should go now before those losers find us," Robbie asked.

Mullet nodded and flew to the shoe locker room. Luckily, the bullies weren't there yet. This bought some time for them to escape to the bus stop. Even though they had to wait a bit longer because they came too early. When the duo arrived at the bus stop, Mullet talked to Robbie.

"Look. I can come to your house and go to the place that you said if at least the rain isn't heavy as now,"

"Okay then. I'll be in touch,"

"Well, at least we have to wait for the bus now," Mullet sighed.

The duo finally waited for the bus comes. The place itself is periodically visited by some students for a few minutes until 20 of them are sitting at that small sheltered bench - resulting in their sight were distracted. After 5 minutes of waiting, the metallic white-blue bus arrived. They walked onto the bus and took their favorite seat.

The rain didn't stop even the time was19:30. Mullet didn't know if the rainfall went worse than before. Thanks to him - skipping the weather forecast and directly left his house with a burrito for breakfast. The rain sound is getting louder and louder as he waits for it to begone.

Mullet just finished the dinner that his brother cooked. The food that entered him was beef ramen, mashed potato, hot milk, and a half glass of water. As a return, he washed all of the dishes and put them all back where they belonged. After the sink was empty, he walked back to his room to study while waiting for the rain to stop. Not to forget a bottled latte he brought to his room.

After roughly 50 minutes of studying, Mullet looked outside via his window. The rain is even worse than before. Some thunder flashed on the dark sky and roared audibly. He stopped studying and returned his book back to the shelf. I guess I can't go now.

Mullet picked up his phone and tried to call Robbie. Speak of the devil, Robbie texted him first.

Robbie: What a rain, dude.

Mullet: I guess it won't stop.

Robbie: I know.

Mullet: Sorry, Rob. I can't ride you there. Let's hope tomorrow night is not raining too.

Robbie: Nope.

Robbie: My parents are here. I guess I can pick you up in my car.

Mullet: That yellow muscle car, right?

Mullet: That car is so cool. I bet no one has that.

Robbie: Thanks. Your bike is so cool too.

Robbie: You look great with that green bomber jacket back then.

Mullet: Yeah, thanks.

Mullet: When are you gonna pick me up?

Robbie: Right now.

Mullet: Alright. I'll be ready. Call me when you arrive.

Robbie: Okay then. Don't forget to bring your school ID card.

Robbie: He needs it to make sure.

Mullet: I have my old school ID card too. Which one?

Robbie: Both.

Mullet put his phone on the studying desk next to the empty bottle of latte. He directly opened his wardrobe and changed his indoor clothes right away except for the red long sleeve shirt that he uses. He wears black baggy pants and a blue trucker jacket. Before Mullet goes out of his room. He took his phone, earphones, his wallet, and the empty bottle together with him.

He walked downstairs and thrown the empty bottle into the trash can in the living room. He looked at Hiro, who was watching the anime on the TV. His big brother looks at him as he wears outdoor clothes.

"Where are you going?" Hiro asked.

"Going out with my friend,"

"Are you sure about that? The rain's heavy, ya know?" asked Hiro while thunder audibly heard by them both.

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry,"

"Well, be careful out there, Makoto. Bring the umbrella and the house key with you,"

Mullet obeyed him. He took the house key on the key hanger above the shoe rack. And followed by wearing his work boots with his white socks inside. He took the coffee-colored umbrella before moving out. Just after the door closed and he's outside. His phone vibrates in his pocket. He already knew who called him as car lights illuminated the road in front of his house. It's by Robbie. Mullet took out his phone and answered his friend.

Mullet put his phone back and opened his umbrella until he reached Robbie's car. The growling sound of it broke the silent atmosphere of the neighborhood and the barren road. Without waiting, he entered the right front seat.

"Hey, Mullet. I bring a spare umbrella for you,"

"It's okay. I use mine," Mullet replied, "Anyway, let's go then,"

Robbie drove the car away from Mullet's house. The raindrops hit the windshield repeatedly, although Robbie turned on the wiper to do the work. The rain sound is muffled as the car is soundproof. Only the sound of the raindrops hitting the car is softly audible.

"Robbie. Mind if I turn on the radio?"

Robbie nodded while driving. Mullet turned on the radio and tuned it into the jazz music to accompany the wet and lonely night as they were cruising down the quiet road. The rainy night sweeps away the crowd of the city as they don't want to get wet. But it's an advantage for them because traffic is clear.

After about 20 minutes of driving, they arrived at the Kemuri district. They parked at This Pizza, where they had dinner before. Robbie turned off the car engine first. Then the duo walked out of the car. The puddles on the ground rippled as they stepped on it.

"He's over here," Robbie leads the way.

Mullet followed Robbie through the rainy sidewalk. He looked on the left, where he saw a convenience store that they passed (where Robbie and Chiyo met together). Robbie led him to a slummy alleyway, where a homeless person met Mullet as he arrived.

"Hello, Alco-san. This is my friend, who also knows everything like me," Robbie greeted him.

"Hello,"

Alco-san stared at him for a bit to make sure if Robbie didn't lie. After he was done staring at him like a cop, Alco-san told him to show his school ID card.

"Give him your ID card," asked Robbie.

"Both?"

"You have both? Good. Hand me both of them," said Alco-san.

Mullet lend him both of his school ID cards, where his old one has the same size as the new one. He also shares his umbrella to cover Alco-san from the rain. He examined thoroughly on Mullet's card. His eyeballs scanned through the front and the backside of it.

"Makoto Shiratori, from this school, September 17, 2002, bla bla bla,"

Alco-san read all of the words printed on his ID card like a text-to-speech bot. After then, he returned Mullet's card, and he saved it into his Wallet in his right pocket.

"Do you have a nickname?"

"Yes. You can call me Mullet,"

"Okay then. Let's go," said Alco-san.

Robbie shared his umbrella and covered Alco-san from the rain while Mullet headed to a sidewalk. Mullet stood next to a street light and looked around the lonely street. No people or even vehicles are passing there. Just a pure silence filled the streets with raindrops, and parked cars (including Robbie's car) accompanied him. The lamps inside the building remain glowed as all of the buildings are still occupied.

"Kid, come on. I don't want to spend the time in this cold environment,"

The audible voice reflexively turned Mullet's head to the left. The voice is more like a 40-year-old man. He hesitated to turn his back as he forced his head to face forward. As Mullet knows nothing will happen, he turns back and glimpses at where the voice came from. He spotted a homeless person who sat next to a dumpster. He wears a shabby green winter jacket, torn khakis, black hi-tops, and a maroon snapback. His appearance is similar to a rapper.

Mullet followed Alco-san to his hideout. Alco-san opened the garage door, and the duo walked in and took a seat on a sturdy chair. Mullet looked around inside as it looked like a small house.

"My name is Kunio Watanabe. But everyone called me Alco-san, short for alcohol," Alco-san introduced himself, "You might already know about the school's mystery. But keep in mind that anyone who knows about it has a different experience and knowledge about. So, it's safe to share your experiences, thoughts, and ideas with each other who knows too,"

"Thanks for the heads up, Alco-san," Mullet smiled.

"No problem. Anyway, as you guys are still students of North Yamai, I would take care of you guys. It's like a family between us," Alco-san gave the duo a warm smile.

"Yeah. A father figure never lost his figure even though you're lost, Alco-san," Robbie chuckled.

"Hehe. You're right. So, what do you know anyway?"

"Jimi,"

"Jimi? Go ahead. Tell me,"

Mullet explained everything he knew about Jimi. His wet hands are now dry during the explanation.

"Okay. That makes sense," Alco-san replied after Mullet finished his explanation, "It's him. It actually was him,"

"I can explain about him," Alco-san took a breath before continuing, "Yes. He has horrible behavior, but he still has sanity, although he killed a squirrel. He's not a psychopath. And about how he makes his way. The day that he killed that creature was the same day Tommy-sensei called the devil. Jimi's behavior slightly changed after he saw it. Thankfully, as he knows it too. I asked him to get out of school at all costs. He took the hard way by robbing a*****e and let himself got arrested. In that way, everyone in the school has a negative vibe about him. And thus, that's how he escaped. By being expelled from the school,"

"And how you make your way out?" Mullet asked.

"Resign. That's it,"

"Resign? Ain't that easy?"

"I'm Tommy-sensei's friend. And I still have time to leave, kid," Alco-san gave a smug, "Speaking about Jimi. He came to me. I told him I got survivors and asked him to help you two. At first, he didn't believe me. But as he knows if I was his reliable person. He told me his current address,"

"Really?!" Mullet and Robbie jumped as happiness bursts on their faces.

"Yes. He currently lives under the bridge at Toto. He has a bunker if you're asking,"

"Thanks," Mullet smiled, "Anyway. Bunker? Is he going to survive a disaster or something? Haha,"

"He's a good person. And as I said, go ahead and ask him. He might know something more than I do," Alco-san recommended with a smile.

"Thanks for everything, Alco-san. We will come back later as soon as we have other things to talk about," Mullet thanked him.

"Sure thing. Be careful out there, kids. Stay safe,"

Mullet and Robbie left Alco-san's garage, and that homeless ex-teacher closed the garage door. This time, he left his hideout instead of staying there. Mullet initially wanted to buy instant ramen for his late-night snack. But he nixed it as he wasn't hungry. The duo directly entered the car and speeded away from the Kemuri district. Mullet talked to Robbie on their way home.

"Oh yeah, Robbie. Some of Alco-san's words are similar to my dreams before," Mullet recalled his dreams two days ago.

"Me too, dude. It's okay, it's a prophecy,"

"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, you're really great at driving. Can you teach me how to drive a car later?"

"Sure. After we get out of this nightmare," Robbie smiles while his hands are grasping the steering wheel.

The duo was silenced after their conversation with Alco-san. It's time for them to ponder about the plan of going the school while they still have time. And soon, they will meet another helper. Which it's the ex-bully, Jimi.

I believe he can help us.