Prologue

Aaah, as expected, traveling by bus is the worst.

“Yuuukino, cookies please.”

“I told you to save some snacks before leaving Haru, didn’t I? There are not going to be any stops before we reach the airport.”

“Yukino, don’t be like that. You have at least two full boxes, I saw them while we were packing last night.”

“And I don’t want them to be empty 15 minutes after we left, this a 2 hour trip. Now go back to your seat, you are bothering Hiro.”

“I hope you get sick from eating them alone.”

The two girls making a fuss behind me were Yukino and Haruka, I cannot stop being amazed by those two being such good friends. Yukino is a mature, tall and refined lady-like student with perfect grades to match and Haruka is your typical popular girl with flashy hair, clothes and make up, always surrounded by friends whenever she goes. Yet, it is impossible to find one without the other.

“Is this really a 2-hour trip?”

I asked painfully to the driver right in front of me.

“Yes, it would normally only take one. But I have to go extra slow thanks to this big bus and the snow from yesterday.”

I guess we are descending a mountain after all.

We are returning from our three-day trip to Hokkaido, here in Saint Mary Academy it is a tradition to take the 3^rd year students skiing to the mountains every year right before their exams. Officially, it was to relieve a bit of stress and celebrate their graduation; but everyone knew the real reason was our principal’s deep love for skiing and the fact that he could get a free all-inclusive trip to his favorite resort every year.

I despise traveling by bus, all my life I have gotten nauseous even while traveling by car and this curvy mountain range is going to feel like hell for me.

“Aki, are you okay? Why are you crying so suddenly? Do you want me to call a teacher?”

“I-I wash j-just remembering, this ish our l-last trip together!”

“What? Save some of those tears for the graduation ceremony please.”

“Shun, you meanie!”

Certainly, all this noise is not going to make my nausea any better, I’m already feeling my stomach churn. Seventeen students, three teachers and the principal make up an undoubtedly loud crew and the fact that everyone was still excited because of the bonfire party last night did not make it any less noisy. I feel sorry for the driver; we chatted a little before departing and he was just an old folk from the town down the mountain who happened to drive tourist to and from the resort as a side job.

“Nana! Nana! Nozomi spilled her coffee, do we have something to clean it up? The dork is making a mess as always.”

Nozomi, could you stay out of trouble for five minutes. I better hurry or the whole bus is going to stink and the one making a mess might be me.

“Kouta don’t call Nozomi names. I’m going to ask the driver for a mop or something.”

As soon as I stood up to go ask the driver, I noticed something weird. His face was as pale as the snow piled up at the side of the road and I could hear his crispy breathing from where I was standing.

“Is everything ok?”

I told him as I reached for his shoulder.

“Yes, I just got a bit dizzy all of a sudden; nothing a sip of coffee cannot cure.”

“If you need something to eat, I have half a sandwich in my…”

The driver made a weird sound before I could finish my sentence and his whole body started convulsing, his hands firmly gripped the steering wheel as if trying their best to keep the control his body was already losing.

“Someone call an ambulance!”

Dumb and scared me shouted, as if an ambulance could do something for a 20,000 pounds uncontrolled bus in the middle of the road.

“What is going on!”

Behind my back, the sound of hysteria could already be heard as everyone started to notice the sudden increase of speed and reckless movements our vehicle was doing. As expected of a bus full of teenagers, almost everyone ignored my scream for help.

“I-Is everything ok!”

Principal Murano rushed towards the front to assess the situation, I guess in this kind of circumstances we can finally count on him to act as our leader. However, way before he could reach me, I felt a chill travel through my body as if trying to warn me of what was to come.

I turned back to see how the driver was doing, it was the end, his whole body was stiff as a rock and his face devoid of any expression, mouth wide open not even blinking. In front of me, the terror, the road ahead was turning in to a sharp curve and there was no power in this world capable of stopping us.

“Please make it”

I said to myself as I rushed desperately to grab the steering wheel, suddenly my feet were no longer on the ground and a loud noise overwhelmed my head.

We crashed against the traffic barrier.

Like a projectile, my whole body launched through the air as I flailed my arms violently to try to grab onto something. It was futile; I smashed my head on the dashboard and then heavily dropped on the floor.

“I wish I were a better daughter.”

With probably my last breath, I murmured.

My consciousness already slipping away, this was it, the end of the road both figuratively and literally.

I was dead.