Chapter Text
A hoard of students passed by, talking amongst themselves. What had their weekend been like? Who had studied? What do you mean there is a test? Can I copy it off of you? Do you think he will notice me this week? No, mom won’t let me go. The noise grew and became a cloud that moved together, almost into a living, breathing creature that would live only until everyone went their separate ways.
Sasuke stood in the middle as they passed by and some even through him.
He was dead.
How did he die?
Who was he?
He seemed to know his name. He could assume that he went to this school because he was wearing the same uniform as everyone else, but other than that, he had no clue why he was there.
Being dead felt… odd. He assumed being dead would feel like nothing, but it felt like something. He could feel more of it if he wanted to, focusing on the breeze made it clear it was a cold morning, but then again, he couldn’t feel the warmth of the people walking through him, not noticing he was there.
Shouldn’t they feel him? Was that just a bad guess that was made in movies?
“Come on.” Sasuke heard a voice that wasn’t with the rest of the crowd. “You made us late!” A girl with pink hair called behind her as she ran toward the front doors to catch up with the end of the hoard.
“We’ll make it.” A blonde boy chased after her with a big dumb smile on his face.
Hm.
Sasuke stood there for a moment longer, staring at the old bricks of the building and wondering just what he was doing there. No one seemed to be mourning. Maybe he had been dead for a while, or maybe he was just an asshole.
He let his feet follow him inside after the two stragglers rushed to make it to class.
The halls didn’t feel familiar. He would think that they would. It was weird having no memory of a place that he was sure that he must have been at some point. Was he a new student? Was he not here long enough? Was it his first day?
He didn't understand how he could know what a hallway of a school looked like without having any memory of what a hallway of a school looked like.
The two loud, straggler students finally got into their chairs, and the female student glared at the male one. He grinned, pushing his face out at her. “See, we weren't late.”
She rolled her eyes and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.
The boy only grinned more.
“Ew.” Sasuke said out loud without really thinking about it. Then he tilted his head. Why did he care? Why was that his reaction? He didn't know these people.
Or did he?
What was going on?
He looked around the class to see if there was a face that he recognized, but there wasn't any. He didn't know if his memory was just wiped or maybe this wasn't his class.
There was an open seat beside the blonde kid, and he took it. What was he supposed to do? Obviously, he didn't have to attend this class, but he didn't know what else he would do right now.
What did you do when you were dead?
What was happening?
Hinata sat on the ledge of the roof of the building, watching the students go under her. Did she know any of them? She didn’t seem to remember.
She was dead. She hadn't been dead for very long. Or at least that was her assumption, as she only remembered the last couple of hours.
But she didn't seem to remember how she died.
And she didn't really know anything about herself.
She kicked one of her feet out in front of her to look at her perfectly white uniform shoes. She seemed to be a clean student. Not a single part of the uniform was out of place. The skirt was set to regulation length. Her shirt was tucked in and buttoned as high as it would go, and her vest was pressed. The only thing that seemed out of place was a sports letter coat that was about a size too big for her, but maybe that was on purpose. Or maybe she had lost weight and moved down a uniform size but hadn't bothered to change the jacket.
So she was a student. Was she a good student? Was she not?
There were so many questions that could be asked.
Did she study well? Did she chase boys? Did she participate in sports? Did she play an instrument?
Who was she?
All she seemed to know was her name.
Unless there was another Hinata at the school, she thought maybe she could find her name on a plaque or a sheet for a theater group, but she hadn’t been able to find anything yet.
“Shino. Wait!” A boy in a hoodie that was not school-issued ran after his friend as students pulled out into the courtyard for lunch. His name was Kiba. She saw him called on earlier when she was wandering the halls looking for information.
The taller boy in sunglasses must be Shino. He turned his head over his shoulder to look at him but didn’t slow his step as he continued on to pick a table.
Hm.
Hinata dropped off the top of the building. If she was dead, she couldn’t die any more than she already had. She landed on her feet but stumbled forward. She had already found out that being dead didn't make her any more graceful when she stumbled up the stairs on the way to the rooftop, but the landing and the fall didn’t hurt, so it didn’t matter how badly she fell.
She had discovered so much about being dead in the last few hours. She couldn’t be hurt. She didn’t need to eat, and she could pass through solids-like doors if she wanted to, but she could walk upstairs. It was all rather interesting. Like a dream, she knew she was in.
But she was rather sure it wasn’t a dream. It was too real… and she just knew she was dead. She couldn’t explain how.
Should she be more upset that she was dead?
Maybe being dead would make her more upset if she could remember if there was anyone who would miss her, or maybe how she might have died.
She blinked and looked back up at the top of the building. She hoped it wasn't that way.
“No, I studied,” Shino commented, drawing her attention back to them.
They sat down at a picnic table bench and dug their lunches out of their respective bags. She sat down with them. She hoped they wouldn't mind.
“Could you like hold your first sheet up a little bit so I can copy it?” Kiba begged. “I haven’t been sleeping, and I'm just so dead after classes every day. I haven't even looked at anything.”
It was bad to cheat.
Oh.
Maybe she was a good student.
“I don't think you want to cheat off of me.” The taller one shook his head. “I've been struggling to pay attention.”
The other one sighed solemnly. “Yeah. It’s been like that, huh.”
They didn't say anymore about what they meant. They seemed to both understand what the other was going through, which meant they must have been good friends.
Did she have any friends?
She turned her head over her shoulder to look at the groups of girls sitting and giggling. Maybe if she passed one of her friends, she would know. She wondered if she was a gossip. She seemed interested in these two situations, at least. Maybe she was nosy.
Hinata looked out over the tables at the rest of the student bodies in various stages of their lunches across the courtyard, she locked eyes with someone else who was staring right back at her.
She blinked, and he was looking away.
Odd. She thought he was actually looking at her, but that didn't make any sense. She was dead. No one could see her.
It didn't seem to bother her now, but she wondered if it would bother her in a few days, weeks, or months. How long was she going to stay here? Was she going to haunt the school forever?
She turned her head back to see if the two boys gave her any more information about their conversation.
She was sure that she could entertain herself with the going ons of the students for at least a little bit.
Sasuke’s eyes shifted back across the courtyard to see that the girl was no longer looking at him. He narrowed his eyes. He couldn't tell if she had seen him, or if she had just been looking in the general direction.
It didn't really make any sense. No one else could see him.
Then again, maybe if he could find someone who could see him, he could ask some questions. Like, why was he here? And why did he keep following these two losers around? They were starting to get on his nerves. Maybe he should pick someone else, maybe a teacher.
Following around high school students was going to get boring really quickly.