The Morning After Someone Passed Away

I remembered something after reading Ms. Aoyagi Airishu's story, so I wanted to share it. This happened when I was in high school. It was the morning after our school trip, and the air was unusually clear and crisp, feeling wonderfully refreshing. The sky was bright, and even the school building, which usually felt cold and inorganic, seemed gentle and warm... Feeling a slight sense of wonder, I arrived at school early that morning and went straight to the restroom. Except for the sports clubs, I was usually the first one in class, and my routine was to read a book while waiting for everyone else to arrive. Perhaps because it was after the school trip, there was no one else in the other classrooms either. It was truly just me. While I was in the restroom, I heard the sound of water flushing in the boys' restroom next door. 'Huh? Was someone here?' I thought, but I still felt uneasy. It was because there was absolutely no sign of anyone else. In fact, when I came out of the restroom, I didn't run into anyone, and I just went back to my routine of reading in the classroom. Homeroom began, and the teacher started speaking. 'A classmate passed away after the school trip.' The classmate was a boy, someone I knew from the student council. I had even exchanged greetings with him during the morning greeting campaign. It wasn't an accident. He... took his own life... After hearing the teacher's words, I suddenly understood the reason behind the crisp morning air and the sound of the flushing toilet. It was him.