Matsumoto Masao was teaching history to his students, his eyes drifting toward Tsukikage Den in the back row.
He was a little confused. He always felt that the other boy was familiar, that he was important to him.
But for the moment, he could not figure out why.
It was not until class ended, when the bell rang with a "ding, ding, ding," that he seemed to hear a voice calling out.
"Come back, come back... return to reality, come back... return to reality. See the truth of this world..."
"The truth of the world?" Matsumoto Masao's head throbbed. He viciously grabbed at his scalp, and the few remaining hairs finally gave out, leaving their post for good.
Damn it, I'm completely bald now. Didn't they say I still had a year before I went totally bald?
Wait, how did he know he had another year before going bald? Wasn't that just like how the sergeants had confidently declared before the war that it would be over in three months? Matsumoto Masao returned to his office.
The desk was familiar, as were the teaching materials, but why did he always feel like he ought to be teaching high school?
I'm a top graduate of Waseda University! How could I possibly be teaching at some poor, rundown middle school?
The moment that thought arose, Matsumoto Masao felt that something was off.
He suddenly stared at the clock on the wall.
The clock ticked onward slowly yet resolutely. No matter how strong, handsome, or clever one was, no one could defeat it.
Even men as wise and mighty as Oda Nobuta, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu had fallen before it.
But why had an eye suddenly appeared on the clock? An eye burning with black flames.
Then the clock began to change