Day One - Thursday 5 April - Akuri Sensei Takes Charge

A new school year starts. In class 1-A (10th graders, 15 years old) one girl, as soon as she entered the homeroom, was seen to have acquired an extra shadow. She is Takako Aoi a bright but scatterbrained and otherwise unremarkable student. During the morning she realises she has forgotten her bag and left it at the main gate. A classmate, Icchan, a Singaporean, volunteers to get it but finds he is accompanied by the shadow. He is shocked to see the shadow slide up over the wall, pick up Takako's bag and return it to him. Icchan, Takako and two other classmates Okayu Sadoru who sits next to Takako and Hissori Hibiki who sits at back of class discuss this incident but all of them are merely confused and shocked and mostly take up positions of denial.

During Thursday it becomes apparent that 1-A's homeroom sensei, Akuri Kousei, the school's PE teacher is something of a martinet who by his sarcasm and unreasonable random punishments quickly makes himself disliked by the 1-A students.

Students active today:

Okayu Sadoru, Murakami Hiro, Icchan, Hissori Hibiki, Karinushi Fubi, Hasumi Yuichi, Seisaku Rakuin, Takako Aoi, Danji Suteki, Takasumi Tokaji (8M, 2F)

Day Two - Friday 6 April - The Shadow That Walked Alone

In the morning the Shadow is waiting for Takako by the main gate and follows her to class. It occupies the desk behind her. All the other students avoid that desk.

At lunchtime, Hasumi Yuichi thinking the school library might have some information on the Shadow goes there and finds an interesting looking manuscript locked away in the 'restricted' section. He signs a request to withdraw the book but it won't be available until the following Monday.

Karinushi is upset due to her personal (mental) problems and runs out of class, Takako goes to the washroom to comfort her, eventually coming back to class with her.

Kurosawa Megumi arrives in class.

There is a lot of discussion and speculation about what the shadow might be. During a study period Okayu starts up a conversation with Takako which quickly develops into a friendship. Tanaka Mai also forms a friendship with the boy next to her, Hasumi and he asks her if she'd like to check the strange book on Monday. She agrees.

Sho arrives in class.

During art lesson in the afternoon, Takako suffers a mild lapse and inadvertently paints a picture of a round grey-black blob instead of the assignment given to her: a pictured inspired in style by Monet's "The Sunset". She wakes realizing the resulting work is useless to her assignment and puts the picture on the desk behind her to dry. She then paints a second, more useful picture.

During art a number of students see a picture in the art textbook that appears strange. It is by Munakata Shiko one of the most significant modern Japanese artists of the twentieth century. The picture in question is "Keeper, 1944" (depicting a war-casualty child patient at the All Soul's Hospital (Munatama Byouin), Isakaya, South Tokyo). The painting depicts a sick child and his nurse. The child clearly has two shadows.
Also during art, Okayu gets up to get more art supplies and finds a small toy plastic tree in a box on the bookshelf. Not understanding why, he is drawn to give it to the upset quiet girl, Karinushi.

After school the students go to the main notice board in the locker area where the various after school club details are posted. It is very crowded and in the crush of students Karinushi suffers a panic attack and runs outside. Okayu goes out with her and sits beside her as she recovers. She eventually feels well enough to go home and Okayu accompanies her, concerned for her well being. They ride the bus about three miles to Hino where Karinushi lives in her danchi. Okayu sees her to her door then returns home. Even though Karinushi said she lived with her mother, Okayu can't help but sense that she isn't being truthful. He goes home still concerned about her.

Remaining in school a group of students, led by Icchan, decide to investigate the art club. Icchan hopes to find out more about the strange painting in the art textbook. He is accompanied by Seisaku Rekuin, Takasumi Tokaji, Sho, Tanaka and Takako. In the art department they meet Kazami Mizuho-sensei the curvaceous and bubbly art teacher and she shows them a large mural high up on the art room wall. Apparently painted about three years ago before Kazami-sensei joined the school. The mural depicts a scene apparently painted through time from medieval to the modern period ending with the school. The implication is that the mural depicts the same piece of land with the different uses it has undergone over hundreds of years. Kazami-sensei knows of the Munakata painting and gives Icchan a business card with details of Ikari-sensei, the archive director in the Munakata Shiko museum in Aomori. She says Ikari-sensei, an old colleague of hers should have fuller details on the painting.

Takako leaves the art club somewhat upset after she overhears Icchan being flippant about her shadow. Tanaka runs out after her, and walks with her. They strike up a close friendship. Takako confides in Tanaka that she is ill but asks her to keep this a secret.

Students that became active today:

Kurosawa Megumi, Tanaka Mai, Sho (for a total of 9M, 4F).

Not played.

At the beginning of school Okayu waits inside the main gate where he sees the shadow and takes photographs of it with his mobile camera-phone. He then meets Takako and they go up to class together. Takako says to him that she has something to tell him. He responds later in the morning that he too has something he wants to tell her. During a study period he shows her some of his song lyrics. It becomes clear to each of them that they are beginning to share a fondness for the other.

Karinushi Fubi is not in school today.

Today is Tanaka's 16th birthday, she brings in a box of lemon cakes she has baked herself and hands them out in class during the morning homeroom study period. On the way up to class she meets Hasumi and it becomes clear that they both are also developing a mutual fondness.

Kurosawa strikes up a friendship with Hissori.

Nadeshiko Benibara-sensei takes the Japanese Literature class. She is a very good looking woman in her mid-twenties and a number of the boys are more than interested in her appearance.

After the Japanese lesson the class goes down to the gym for PE. En-route Tanaka and Takako get chatting and they eavesdrop on the group of boys walking in front of them (Icchan, Sho, Kazuo, Okayu among them) following another misunderstanding of a comment by Icchan that Tanaka overhears, an argument develops at the gym door. During this Takako collapses and Tanaka and Okayu try to get her up but Akuri-sensei arrives. Worried that Takako and Tanaka might get a punishment Okayu mock-punches Icchan as a distraction. In the resulting confusion Tanaka moves Takako away beyond Akuri-sensei's radar while Okayu is punished with 50 press-ups along with 2 or 3 other boys for not being changed on time. The rest of the class are given ten laps of the gym. Akuri-sensei learns from some other boys that Okayu punched a classmate and he receives an hours detention tonight. After further threats by Akuri-sensei that the class will suffer further punishment, Icchan also agrees that he was involved in the 'misunderstanding' with Okayu and is also given a detention.

During Takako's collapse the shadow manifests itself again forming a defensive barrier in front of the girl through which Okayu, Icchan and Tanaka cannot touch her. This phenomena is witnessed by most of the class but not Akuri-sensei. Takako remains unwell and is sent up to the nurses office by Akuri-sensei, Tanaka escorts her. The remainder of the PE lesson proceeds normally.

Takako spends two lessons in the care of the nurse but returns to 1-A's homeroom for lunchtime when the other students return from the physics lab to find her there. The whole class is at first rather subdued and in shock from the events in the gym but gradually conversations resume and Okayu speaks with Takako. She tells him she has leukemia. He takes her by the hand and leads her outside where he tells her his girlfriend of his last semester in middle school, named Kaede, died of a rare form of blood cancer at the beginning of March after winning a place at Isakaya, which she had striven hard for at the prompting of her mother. After his confession Takako and he decide they can both gain strength and companionship by moving closer together. They share a hug and Okayu promises to give Takako all the help and support he can.

In 1-A, and just for laughs Kurosawa and Hissori start to throw left-over bits of Tanaka's birthday cakes around upsetting Icchan, Hasumi, Sho, Fushida Maho and especially Tanaka who tells them off but leaves the room, only just hiding her tears from her classmates within the room but not the three boys who accompany her. Hasumi, Icchan and Kazuo go out with her and Hasumi leads the group to the library.

Nagashima Hikari (F) becomes active.

Hissori, upset by being told off by Tanaka goes outside. Kurosawa follows him and they share lunch. Kurosawa begins to show a caring attitude towards Hissori who seems painfully shy, closed in and worried about something.

Meanwhile Fushida strikes up a conversation with Sho. Tsugara Ren (NPC) and Nagashima Hikari become involved in this exchange out in the quad which seems to develop eventually into Fushida and Nagashima both being interested in Sho. Although with all the cattiness and innuendo it's hard to be certain. Someone is leading somebody on but no-one knows who or where...

Morimoto Takeo enters class during lunchbreak (M).

He talks initially with Fushida but decides to leave the conversation when Sho and Nagashima also join this group and a bitch-fest between Nagashima and Fushida flares up.

At the library Hasumi takes out the restricted manuscript he asked for on Friday. A postcard left in it by Akuri-sensei the Duty Library Teacher (and 1-A's homeroom teacher) contains a personal message of support to Hasumi and Takako. It seems the sensei is not the complete swine everyone thought he was. He's still a swine but not a total swine. The manuscript turns out to be written by a Professor Ibuki and is a history of the school but mostly focusing on the phenomena of the shadow people or Mihariban or Sokoban of which there have been a number of cases at the school since the early 1960s. It transpires that the Mihariban appear to be some sort of watchmen or guardians of very ill people. The four students discuss their find.

Takako and Okayu return happily to 1-A after his confession of support for her only to find that the strange painting Takako made on Friday has been tampered with since she laid it on the desk behind her to dry. Upon it the kanji characters for shugo or protection have been daubed in brown paint in a style not compatible with either finger- or brush painting. The graffiti was done when the paint was wet, indicating it was done during the art class on Friday.

Urged on by Okayu, Takako begins to try and communicate with the Mihariban with her mind. Both she and Sadoru blank out for ten minutes. Tanaka wakes them up when she returns from the library. Both of them are scared by this but while she was unconscious Takako felt a comforting presence, something like a kind, wise old grandmother.

Seisaku Rakuin wakes up from a long lunchtime nap and opens a conversation with Morimoto.

After school Sadoru and Icchan have detention and there is friction between the two boys in a corridor en-route to the sensei's lounge over a debt of honour that Sadoru feels is important but Icchan does not. They end up not speaking to one another.

Fushida, scheming to find out Sho's real name, decides upon a plan and ropes in Nagashima as her stooge to cause a distraction tomorrow during morning homeroom so that she can get a look at the class register.

Tanaka takes Hasumi and Takako to the art club again and sees that the picture of "Minatama Byouin" on the mural isn't just the same building but exactly the same picture. She tells Takako what transpired in the library. Takako, thinking that perhaps she got into Isakaya and somehow took the place Kaede was more worthy of, runs out consumed by feelings of guilt and low self-esteem.

In the locker area several students gather and discuss the club notice board: Fushida, Seisaku, Morimoto, Kazuo, Sho. Fushida leaves and is spoken to outside by Morimoto where she explosively tells him to leave her alone, she then runs off and it transpires that her period is starting which might explain why she has been Such A Total Cow all day.

After Takako leaves the art club, Hasumi and Tanaka return to the lockers where he gives her a birthday gift of a small origami crane that he has made during the day. Shyly, he then runs off. The day closes with a scene of Tanaka in her bedroom getting the crane out of it's box and looking at it and enjoying some warm fluffy feelings.

Students that became active today:

Kazuo (M), Fushida Maho (F), Shiokawa Kagami (F), Nagashima Hikari (F), Morimoto Takeo (M).

Students INactive today:

Murakami Hiro, Karinushi Fubi, Danji Suteki, Takasumi Tokaji (for a total of 8M, 6F).

Tanaka Mai brings a box to school and conspiratorially places it in Hasumi Yuichi's locker before going up to class. When he comes in and opens his locker, he discovers the box contains a home-baked chocolate cup cake with "Thank you" written on the top in sugar sprinkles. More warm and fluffy feelings.

Sadoru wakes up several times in the night from a nightmare in which he witnesses Takako dying in a hospital bed in the same way Kaede did, and he is unable to help. As a result of lack of sleep he is unfocused on the train and misses his stop. He gets off at the next station but forgets his school bag. The return train from the next station will make him ever later so he runs the two miles back to school, arriving exhausted and sweating.

Takako oversleeps, consumed by her worries that she is alive when Kaede is not and that she isn't worthy to take the dead girl's place. She gets to school late and meets Sadoru at the gate. He reveals that he spent last evening Googling the internet and finding out about leukaemia. She is quiet and concerned, he is exhausted and depressed. Together the unhappy couple enter school very late.

Icchan has been burning the midnight oil and comes into class with a written sheet of notes in which he itemizes the discoveries from yesterday's library session and suggests a series of action points. He shows this to Mai and she shows it to Yuichi.

We are treated to the first gratuitous fanservice scene of Sho in his morning shower (hair styling and men's fragrance product placement time). Along with Sadoru's, Takako's and Mai's waking/dressing/breakfast scenes this is the fourth bedroom/shower room scene we've had this morning. Strange.

Before the second bell sounds Fushida, Nagashima and Sho recommence their squabble from yesterday and Maho goes over the edge due to her period pains and generally being Not A Very Nice Girl. Seisaku taps her on the shoulder and tells her to be quiet and she spins round and gives him a verbal lashing and then Nagashima does the same and she has a go at her as well. Sho, still in product placement mode sits there looking and smelling beautiful.

After registration, Akuri-sensei is called away unexpectedly to a meeting in headmaster Matoko's office which stops Fushida Maho's plan to discover Sho's full name in its tracks. This also gives several students the opportunity to chat and Maho, Nagashima Hikari and Sho continue their three-way cat-fight which boils down to the two girls demanding that Sho choose one of them. He chooses Hikari but qualifies this as only applying to a lunch date, (argh!) the implication being that he's offering a lunch date to the other girl tomorrow.

Seisaku Rakuin talks with Morimoto Takeo. Kazuo talks with Takeo. A remorse-filled Kurosawa Megumi gives Mai a late birthday card as an apology for yesterday and talks with Karinushi Fubi who is back in school today and seems a bit more chirpy and less schizoid and suicidal. Megumi continues to fret over Hissori Hibiki who talks to himself.

During first lesson which is Geography, an apparently depressed Sadoru shares a textbook of the boy to his right Otomo Yukio rather than Takako's to his left. After this lesson Sadoru goes down to the secretary's office to confirm that he and Takako had arrived at school late. The second lesson is Japanese Lit. with the ever popular and impossibly pneumatic Beni-Chan.

On the way to third period, Chemistry, Rakuin asks Maho to have lunch with him to which, after a few mind games, she agrees and they walk to the second block together.

Mai, Megumi, Hibiki and Fubi also walk together, Mai and Megumi messing about and laughing a lot. In Chemistry the party continues with some very odd smells coming from their joint experiments.

Sadoru and Takako walk together with a small cartoon rain cloud of depression over them. Takako tells him what Mai had told her yesterday evening in the art room and confesses her fears that in order for her to get into Isakaya, it might have been necessary for Kaede to die. Sadoru comforts her which ends up in yet another embrace (tish, typical). Her Shadow is in curiously close attendance during this cuddle.

After Chemistry, English is the last lesson for the morning during which the second Shadow appears, seeming to be spawned out of the first. It moves across the classroom to Hissori Hibiki, taking up residence at the desk beside him. Chaos breaks out in class and the English teacher, Watanabe-Sensei dismisses everyone to lunch early.

Takako faints during the commotion and Sadoru and Takeo, carry her out into the corridor but she recovers within a few minutes with the help of Mai and the Magical Ice Pack.

Rakuin takes Maho to lunch by the running tracks where she tries to draw sensible medium-weight conversation out of him but he seems intent on going deeper and seeking a relationship whereupon she dumps him and has a weepy emo attack in the girls washroom, ground floor of block 2.

Kazuo takes Takeo to lunch on the roof of block #1 where Takeo reveals a slightly shady family past.

Sho goes sniffing around school for Hikari and finds her on the roof of block #2. She's upset at having no friends and he doesn't help much since he seems to think anything she says implies she has the hots for him, comprehensively misinterpreting every word and gesture. Boys. Pah!

Sadoru and Mai take Takako and an upset Megumi and a moody Fubi outside to the benches whereupon they dump the walking wounded and go in search of Hibiki whom they find on the grass in front of the school being attended by Yuichi. Hibiki is brought back to the main group but conversation about what had just happened stalled due to Takako's reluctance to talk in front of so many people. Instead she takes a cue from Sadoru and leaves with Mai back to 1-A to show her the Friday painting while Megumi tries to talk to Hibiki and Sadoru tries to talk to Fubi, both with distinct lack of success.

Takako tells Mai she has cancer. Mai tells Takako she loves her. They hug and cry. Awww...

Icchan, decides to give up on solving the Shadow issue by committee and do the job properly. And alone. He goes to Kazami-Sensei the art teacher and asks her to telephone her colleague in the Munakata museum archive department about the "Keeper 1944" painting. He gives her a series of questions to ask her friend.

After her crying fit, Maho leaves the washroom only to bump straight into Takeo and Kazuo who are about to go outside and sit on a bench. Maho has a moment of spiritual connection (or something) when she looks into Kazuo's eyes before running off in embarrassment and panic to the library where she hides for the rest of lunch break.

On returning to 1-A Rakuin tries to chat Maho up again, this time a little more successfully and she offers to take him out that evening to a live music gig in Kawasaki City centre.

Hibiki tells Megumi he loves her and she runs off.

Takeo and Kazuo get talking like two old hens.

Megumi after crying by the bike racks returns to class only to break down again and be comforted by Fubi in the girls washroom. Sure seems to be a lot of girl-girl hugging going on today. Not that anyone's complaining I don't think.

After lunch the headmaster comes to homeroom, tells all the students not to tell anyone about the shadows or else and gives them the afternoon off. Mai, Yuichi and Icchan promptly go down to his office to grill him on a few important Shadow-related issues.

Takako takes Sadoru up to the roof to tell him her fears about keeping quiet and they discuss her problems and the whole situation for a while but then he takes advantage of the moment to tell her he loves her. She responds. They kiss. Awwww...

Rakuin goes to the art room to practice his graffiti skills where Maho finds him, they argue about his hobby, he gets annoyed and slaps her (cheers all round!) she tries to slap him back, he stops her and then forcibly kisses her. Yay! She finally slaps him and defaces his artwork but strangely agrees to go drink tea with him in the cafe across the street.

Fubi takes a confused Megumi outside the main entrance where Hibiki and Kazuo find them. Fubi tries to tell Hibiki about the Shadows but he gets upset and runs away (as he will if you say anything to him other than "pass the salt" or "tuck your shirt in" apparently). Megumi seeing him go, gets fed up of him running away from everything and everyone and kisses him! Awww... A right day of kisses this is turning out to be.

Takeo finishes his violin practice and then he and Kazuo chill for a while until Takeo's Kendo club training which Kazuo watches (aha!) before they both go into town for an evening of arcade gaming and boy friendship.

At the cafe Maho and Rakuin get talking about friendship. She tells him she doesn't want a boyfriend (almost certainly a lie but we don't know why yet - anyone who does know what the heck Maho wants please write in on a postcard...). Rakuin does some sketching of her before Hikari arrives having mysteriously lost Sho after lunch. Hikari and Maho argue then make up then argue some more before Hikari leaves to wallow in her loneliness and Maho is left behind to wallow in guilt.

Rakuin takes Maho to his house which has writing all over it and he shows her around before she takes him to her place and then on to the live music evening, rather knocking the wind out of his sails when three of her (NPC) friends turn up, one of whom seems to rather like him.

After talking with the headmaster and discovering little other than confirming what they already knew and that the headmaster 1) knows a lot more and 2) isn't going to tell them, Mai, Yuichi and Icchan talk in a corridor during which Icchan reveals his Master Plan To Take Over The World (and some stuff he'd thought up about the Shadows). In Shock and Awe, Mai and Yuichi walk off.

They talk to each other about each other during which we find out that Mai as well as baking cakes has an irrational fear of trains and Yuichi is much travelled and mother-less (as is Mai). Awww, cute. But no kissing. Never mind, you can have too much of a good thing.

Finally Fubi goes off to do some guitar playing and give religious offerings under some trees while talking to the guy in her head some more while Hibiki finding out that kissing can be fun, takes Megumi to the cafe where he suffers some kind of inability to tell her something and runs out, leaving her once again tearful, confused and alone.

Baka!

Students that became active (or returned to play) today:

Karinushi Fubi (F).

Students INactive today:

Murakami Hiro, Danji Suteki, Shiokawa Kagami (for a total of 8M, 6F).