Chapter 11 (2008) (867 words)

I

It was well past midnight when they returned to the gym.

Sendoh yawned, and feel asleep almost as soon as his body hit the bed.

“It’s the chloroform,” said Mitsui, nodding knowingly.

Nobody else seemed to want to go to bed just yet. There was much to talk about.

“I feel like there should be a simple explanation for everything,” said Maki. “And yet…”

Takenori cleared his throat. He had been awfully quiet during his search for Kogure, which rather surprised the Shohoku team. Usually their captain was the first to unravel mysteries or put to rest misconceptions.

“Speaking from a scientific point of view,” said Takenori, who had a predilection for science, “I don’t buy into the whole ‘Friday the Thirteenth’ nonsense Mitsui’s been spouting since Day 1, and I don’t believe in ghosts. Even still, there are things about the dormitory that I can’t explain.”

“So you’re saying that there could be ghosts?” said Mitsui. He was paler than usual, since it was already Friday the Thirteenth.

A vein throbbed in Takenori’s temple.

“I am saying there are no such things as ghosts.”

“Then how do you explain all the stuff that’s been happening to us these past few days?”

Takenori clenched his teeth.

“I don’t know.”

II

“Somebody needs to wake Sendoh and Kaede up,” said Ayako.

“Uh, why?” said Koshino.

Though it was past 8 AM, Koshino thought that Sendoh was entitled to a little extra rest after what he’d been through.

“Yeah, what’s the big deal?” said Hanamichi, who liked Kaede better when he was asleep.

“I think it’s all right to let them sleep a little while longer,” Koshino went on.

Ayako turned a deaf ear to Koshino’s suggestion, and pulled the covers off Sendoh and Kaede violently.

“Wakey-wakey,” she yelled.

Sendoh groaned as he awoke.

“What’s the big deal?” He tried sitting up, and winced. “My head feels funny.”

“Come off it, Sendoh,” said Maki. “The effects of chloroform couldn’t possibly last that long. That is, if you were even knocked out with chloroform.”

Maki was still not convinced that Sendoh had ever been knocked out with chloroform. He thought Sendoh had been hallucinating, and was now playing up his debilities for the attention.

Sendoh turned to Maki.

“Have you ever been chloroformed before?”

“Uh, no,” Maki stammered. “But I just know. Sendoh, you have to believe that as a third-year I know more science than you do.”

Takenori rolled his eyes.

“If he did, he wouldn’t have to defend himself that way,” he muttered to himself.

Coach Takato entered before Sendoh could riposte.

“Breakfast is ready,” he announced.

III

Sendoh silently sipped his second mug of hot chocolate. It was to get rid of what he called the chloroform equivalent of a hangover.

Knives and forks clattered on plates around the cafeteria.

Incredulous eyes were cast at Fujima’s plate, which had more food than one would have expected a person of his size to be capable of eating.

“I’m a growing boy,” said Fujima defensively. “I need the nutrition.”

Kaede stared listlessly at the wall opposite him, arms crossed as he alternately drifted in and out of sleep.

Sendoh rose noisily.

“Oh!” he exclaimed. “I seem to have left something behind in the gym. Kaede, could you please come with me?”

Kaede raised an eyebrow, but rose.

“Why would you want Kaede to accompany you?” asked Mitsui suspiciously.

“Yeah, why?” echoed Hanamichi.

Sendoh hesitated, but quickly recomposed himself.

“I’m still feeling a little… uh… faint. I’ll need someone around in case I fall or something.”

“Do you think Sendoh’s taking this charade a bit too far?” said Maki as Sendoh and Kaede left the cafeteria. “I mean, it’s fine if he wants to be the center of attention and all, but there really ought to be limit.”

Koshino stared coldly at Maki.

“He’s not lying,” he said. “Sendoh is one of the most honest people I know. If he says he was chloroformed, he was chloroformed. Got it?”

Maki put up his hands apologetically.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” he said. “Sorry if I offended you.”

Sendoh and Kaede did not return again to the cafeteria, and everyone returned to the gym after breakfast.

Sendoh and Rukawa were at the gym. The two of them were bent over Sendoh’s bag, examining with interest something inside it.

“I was expecting you to be asleep, Sendoh,” said Maki mockingly. Glares from Ryonan. “You know, after your whole ordeal.”

“Oh?” Sendoh looked down at his wristwatch. “I feel better now. I think I’ll take a walk outside. You know, for the fresh air.”

He laughed. It came out a little forced.

“Good luck, then,” said Maki, continuing to sound mocking. “Wouldn’t want you to pass out.”

More glares from Ryonan.

Sendoh gave everyone a cheerful smile as he departed.

“Hey Ayako,” said Kogure. “Do you happen to have something I can clean my glasses with?”

Ayako rummaged through her backpack for a clean handkerchief.

“Thanks.”

Rukawa fell asleep on Sendoh’s bed.

“Well,” said Ayako. “Today might turn out to be pretty uneventful.”

She sounded relieved.

Mitsui, on the other hand, was less sure. It was, after all, Friday the Thirteenth.

◄ Chapter 10 ● Nights at Kainan ● Chapter 12 ►