The Desk That Wanted Company

The morning sun stretched over Seiryuu Academy like a reluctant cat, half-curled and yawning its way into the day. Students shuffled into classrooms like sleepwalkers forced awake by exams and parental expectations. Halfhearted smiles, sighs louder than footsteps, and backpacks dragging like defeated warriors filled the hallways.

At precisely the time when even teachers considered staying in bed, a boy with blue hair that looked like it hadn’t agreed to comb itself yet, slid into Classroom 2-B without so much as a glance at the bustling world.

Renji Aozora. Transfer student. Exorcist. Detective. Or at least that’s what people whispered behind him. Whether any of that was true or how much of it was rumor he clearly didn’t care.

He dropped into the desk by the window with the grace of someone committing to laziness as a lifestyle.

Renji (half-muttering):

“Same desk. Same hopeless chairs. Same sea of sleeping faces…”

He stretched with the kind of dramatic flair that could make a cat look like an Olympic gymnast. His eyes were narrowed into slits, and his mouth yawned like an open cavern.

From across the room, Kaito Morishima, the class president, stiffened. His uniform was perfectly pressed, his glasses aligned, and his hair disciplined into submission.

Kaito (under his breath): “He’s late again…”

Next to Kaito sat Aya Fujimoto, camera dangling from her neck like a prop from an adventure movie. She peered at Renji with bright eyes sparkling with mischief.

Aya (grinning): “Let’s watch. This’ll be fun.”

In the back corner sat Ryo Takasugi, who could have passed for a statue carved from obsidian. His sharp gaze missed nothing, and his silence spoke louder than words.

Renji barely blinked at the fuss, but the story that floated through the halls that week had caught his ear despite himself.

Classroom 3-A whispers after school hours.

Desks move by themselves.

Books fly open and scream.

Some said it was a prank, others a curse, and a few swore it was the ghost of Yuki Kadowaki, a student who had vanished last winter without a trace.

When Kaito cornered Renji near the lockers after second period, it became clear that destiny had chosen him.

Kaito (nervously adjusting glasses): “Um… Renji… I know you’re… different.”

Renji (yawning): “That’s what they tell me.”

Kaito: “They say you solve… strange cases.”

Renji (grinning):

“People say a lot of things.”

Kaito (urgently): “The school’s reputation is at stake! You’re… you’re an exorcist, aren’t you?!”

Renji smirked. The lethargy in his posture didn’t shift a fraction.

Renji: “If I’m an exorcist, I must exorcise… boredom.”

Aya (popping in cheerfully): “Come on! It’s supernatural! We’re starving for content!”

Ryo (quietly): “If it’s real, it’s dangerous.”

Renji (grinning lazily): “Dangerous… or delicious.”

With that, he stretched his arms as if preparing for a nap.

Renji: “Fine. I’ll take a look. But only if it’s interesting. If it’s boring, I’ll fall asleep mid-investigation.”

Aya burst into laughter.

Aya: “Please do! I’ll film it.”

Into the Haunted Room

By afternoon, the group stood before Classroom 3-A. The corridor leading there seemed too still as though the walls held their breath.

The hallway’s fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead. Posters curled at their edges, and the smell of old chalk dust hung in the air.

Aya (dramatically): “This is so creepy…”

Kaito (whispering): “Just… let’s get this over with.”

Ryo’s eyes scanned every corner, his body rigid like a soldier on guard.

Renji leaned against the doorframe with supreme disinterest.

Renji (yawning): “So… this is where the mystery lives."

Aya (pouting):

“Stop being grumpy, Renji! We’re here to catch ghosts!”

Renji (smirking):

“I’m here to catch sleep.”

The door creaked open, revealing a classroom coated in dust, its desks in uneven rows, chalk marks half-erased across the board, and windows blurred by condensation. Nothing seemed alive.

Kaito (relieved):

“It’s just an ordinary classroom!”

Aya:

“No weird vibe… at all.”

Ryo (frowning):

“Still… I feel something’s off.”

Renji lazily walked past them and flopped into the last row.

Renji (stretching):

“Case solved. Nothing here but dust.”

The silence held for a moment.

Then, without warning, the door slammed shut.

All four jumped.

The fluorescent lights blinked once, twice—and died, plunging the room into an uneven twilight.

The temperature dropped so quickly that the condensation on the windows froze mid-drift.

A cold draft rolled across the room, and with it came the whispers.

Soft at first, curling like breath on glass.

Then clearer.

Whispers:

“Stay… stay…”

Aya (clutching her camera):

“I… I feel it…!”

Ryo’s eyes sharpened, jaw clenched.

Kaito (stammering):

“What… what is that?!”

The desks shuddered.

Aya (screaming):

“It’s real!!”

Kaito:

“Run!”

Ryo (calm but tense):

“Don’t move!”

Renji yawned again as if someone had rung an alarm clock unnecessarily.

Renji (smirking):

“Finally. Something interesting.”

The blackboard shivered, and the chalk tray rattled like bones.

Then, with deliberate slowness, a piece of chalk leapt into the air.

It hovered, twisting, before writing out a single word.

BLACKBOARD:

HELP

Aya’s mouth fell open.

Aya (wide-eyed):

“It… it wants help?!”

Kaito (stammering):

“We should should we call someone?”

Ryo (whispering):

“Stay calm… it’s communicating.”

Renji stood up with lazy elegance, as if this was an afternoon stroll and nothing else.

Renji:

“Oh, it does want attention. Cute.”

He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small talisman, ancient runes etched along its edge.

Renji (calmly):

“If you want to talk… here’s your microphone. Speak.”

The chalk trembled and scrawled another word.

BLACKBOARD:

YUKI… TRAPPED…

The room froze again..

Kaito’s face drained of color.

Kaito (whispering):

“No… Yuki… Kadowaki?!”

He gripped his glasses so tightly they bent.

Aya’s camera slipped from her hand, forgotten.

Aya (gasping):

“That’s him?!”

Ryo’s eyes blazed with alarm.

Ryo:

“He… vanished last winter…”

A cold wind rattled the windows violently.

Whispers:

“Help… trapped… cold…”

The desks slid forward like crawling creatures. The air thickened with frozen breath.

Renji knelt beside the desk nearest the blackboard and laid a palm softly against its wooden edge.

His charm began to glow with a warm, golden light. The cold receded in small waves.

He murmured something inaudible, like a lullaby only the dead could hear.

The desks slid back into place.

The chalk on the board stilled.

The temperature normalized.

The whispers dissolved into silence like mist burned by sunlight.

Renji (softly, as if speaking to an unseen guest):

“Rest now… Yuki.”

The blackboard, as if sighing, slowly cleared itself.

For a few seconds, none of the students dared breathe.

Then, Aya squealed.

Aya:

“It’s gone!! It’s really gone!!”

Kaito (still pale):

“Th-thank you… I… I… didn’t know what to do.”

Ryo (nodding slightly):

“I’ve never seen… this before…”

Renji stretched like he’d just woken from a nap.

Renji (grinning lazily):

“If you want classrooms not to whisper… fix the heater.”

Aya burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.

Aya:

“He’s savage!”

Ryo almost smiled, his jaw twitching.

Kaito stared at Renji as if he had witnessed a magician or a god.

As the group stepped back into the hallway, sunlight poured in like golden silk.

Everything seemed calm.

But in the reflection of the window glass, a shadow lingered a silent watcher that didn’t blink.

Renji paused once, letting the air drift through his hair.

Renji (smirking under his breath):

“Well… this town’s going to be interesting.”

......... End of Chapter 1

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