Devil's Classroom chapter 1
Now, I know that I said I wasn't doing more stories, but this one's been more or less down for a little while, so I'm just uploading it. Just saying this now, if you haven't read the manga through to the end, you will be spoiled.
Discalimer: I don't own Highschool DxD or Assassination classroom. No money is made from this fic.
'Korosensei's done it again.' Nagisa Shiota thought to himself after finishing his High School entrance ceremony. Not only had his grades improved tremendously, which put him on the right track to advance on his chosen career path, but even from beyond the grave, he'd managed to look out for his students. Because of Koro-sensei's words, his parents, who'd been divorced until just recently, were starting to get back together. Given his mother's temperament, it wasn't a sure thing, and all of them acknowledged it would take some work, but even the fact that they were talking was a colossal improvement.
He'd never be able to thank Korosensei for that, since he was already dead. In what had to be the absolute craziest graduation ceremony ever, Class 3-E had overrun a military encirclement, defeated a team of highly skilled mercenaries led by the strongest man in the world, rescued Korosensei, and finally, after Korosensei faced his pupil, the second God of Death, and at his insistence, the class unanimously decided that the only way that there was only one way for their assassination classroom to end.
Even now, months later, he still stared down at his hands, the very hands he'd used to thrust that knife into Korosensei's heart, and wonder if it had all been real. He knew the answer, of course, but that didn't make it any easier to have killed his idol, his mentor, and his friend.
"Hey, kid!" Someone shouted from behind him, and he sighed dejectedly. Apparently, even in Kuoh Academy, bullies would always target the weakest looking new students. And despite his considerable resume of murder, he sure didn't look the part.
"How can I help you?" He smiled back at them, slipping a hand into the pocket of his pants and grabbing hold of a ballpoint pen. Three delinquents were standing beside the school gates, all of them probably in their third year, and wearing identical jackets and smirks. The leader, though, was easily as large as Mr. Takaoka, and while he likely wasn't as skilled, he could probably pack just as much power into his attacks.
So basically, the three of them were no threat to him.
"See, the thing is, we got really hungry at lunch and ended up spending all our bus money." The leader smirked, extending his hand, "My parents will flip if I'm home late, so would you mind lending us a hand? A fifty should do fine."
"Is that all?" Nagisa said, taking out his wallet. One purchase aside, Class 3-E had refused most of Koro-sensei's bounty, giving it instead to Mr. Karasuma as a thank you for his help throughout the year. Still, each of them had accepted enough to pay for their education in full (As Koro-sensei would've wanted), and a bit more for themselves.
But since the reward money was absolutely spectacular, even just a bit was still more than probably any other kid their age in the country had to throw around. Nagisa had taken five million for himself, which was one of the most in the class. Ritsu, who's developers decided how much she received, were the only party to accept the full partition she'd earned, just over a billion dollars. Itona also took a pretty large share in order to buy back his father's factory, and Karma didn't take anything beyond tuition for highschool and university. Not surprising since his family was well off to begin with.
"Oh?" The bullies grinned when they saw the money in Nagisa's wallet. Faster then their eyes could see, he darted into their pockets and pulled out around a hundred dollars in crumpled bills. Probably from them extorting other students.
"Sorry." Nagisa replied, putting his wallet back into his pocket and handing the bully back his money, "But you should have more then enough there to get you and your friends home."
Once he turned to leave, as expected, one of them grabbed his arm, and he struck. Using the same move that caught Karma off guard, Nagisa had the leader down on the ground and unable to move in less then a second.
He could've kept the hold and knocked him out, but since that put him at risk of getting attacked by the other two, he chose to break the hold and dust himself off, "I don't have anything to give to you." He said, walking away from them without a worry.
"That kid's something else." Sona Sitri said from the school entrance.
"Did you know?" Her queen, Tsubaki asked her, "When you ordered me to stand down, was it because you knew he'd be able to take care of himself."
"No matter how many times you or I stop them, it won't make a difference." Sona replied, "I thought maybe they'd have a change of heart once one of their victims stood up to them."
"And will they?" Tsubaki asked, and Sona shook her head.
"Keep an eye on him."
"Understood." The queen replied, following the fuming delinquents through the school gates. With Tsubaki on the job, Sona was able to relax and returned to the student council room. Her newest pawn, Saji, was already waiting for her there.
"Sona, I have the records you asked for." He said, handing her the folder he'd just set on the desk.
"Thank you, Saji." She replied, setting it down and opening it. As expected, the boy was from Kunugigaoka. Particularly their infamous E-Class.
"So who is this guy?" Saji asked her curiously, and she closed the folder.
"I'm planning to ask him if he'll become my Knight." She responded, and Saji snorted.
"That little pipsqueak? Why? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure any knight you choose will be amazing, but he just seems so…" Saji started, and she shook her head.
"That boy was part of the class that killed the super being earlier this year." She replied, and Saji's eyes bulged.
"No way in hell…"
"Indeed." She smiled, "He certainly doesn't seem the type, does he?"
"That's putting it mildly." He shrugged, "But I guess that would explain why you're interested. Do you think he'll accept?"
"Well, I can't hurt to try." She replied.
Somehow, Nagisa wasn't surprised when he got out of cram school and those same three bullies were waiting for him. Even worse, they brought some friends. Around twenty or so other guys surrounded him.
"What is it?" He asked, "Didn't you say that your parents would get mad if you were late?"
"Now listen, you little shit-!" One of the lackeys started, but the leader stopped him.
"You know, quite a few people saw you acting like a big shot at the school gate." The leader said, cracking his knuckles, "If we just took that, well, our street cred would be toast. So we've gotta make an example of you."
Sighing, Nagisa set down his back and faced them, "Look, I don't want to fight, but since you're probably not going to let me by…" Turning, he took the Anti-Sensei knife he always carried as a reminder and held it up, "You might just die."
In the dark, the clearly fake knife looked almost menacingly real, and one of them even backed away. The leader, though, was not one of them.
"Kid's got a set on him." He grinned, slipping a hand in his pocket and pulling out a switchblade, "Then let's see how if you can back it up!"
The moment he charged, Nagisa stepped forward and cut him off. Dodging the blade of the knife by a millimeter, he drew the pen from his pocket and jab at his neck. The moment he felt the tip come into contact with his neck, the leader froze.
"You done yet?" Nagisa sighed, pressing the tip ever so slightly against his skin, "Just go away. My mom's strict too, so I'd rather not keep her waiting because I was dealing with you."
"Kill this punk!" He screamed, ignoring the pen to his vital, and Nagisa silently cursed. One on one, he was reasonable confident he could take any of them, but this outnumbered, he was basically screwed.
The group charged at him, and he pushed away the leader, hoping that he could escape by creating an opening. Thankfully, he didn't need to. Three of the goons fell over, and he ran past them. A girl he vaguely recognized was standing in front of him. She was wearing the Kuoh uniform, and in her hands was what appeared to be a broom handle.
"Are you okay?" She asked with a smile, "Just wait behind me."
"But-" He started, and she stepped forward.
"All of you, leave now." She ordered, holding the broomhandle in front of her, "Otherwise, I'll defeat you all."
"You think that just because you're the student council vice president we give a shit what you say?" The leader asked, rubbing his throat where Nagisa could just make out a small blue mark from his pen, "Kill the bitch too."
The group charge at her, but she didn't seem the least bit concerned. As soon as one of them stood in front of her, she jabbed at him with the broom, and knocked him to the ground. Immediately afterwards, she slashed it to the side and took out another three who were trying to get past her.
After the way she so easily crushed four of them, the rest seemed more wary of attacking her, but she didn't share their concern. Leaping forward, she jabbed two more and pinned the leader to the ground.
"Care to revise your opinion?" She asked, holding the broom handle at the exact same spot that Nagisa hit with his pen.
Most of the others were too scared to do anything, but one did try and attack her from behind with a baseball bat. She didn't see him coming until it was too late to avoid the blow, so Nagisa jumped between them.
A single clap rang out and the attacker fell to the ground in shock. Nagisa stooped and picked up the bat he'd dropped. Swinging it in his hands in a form that probably would've given Sugino a heart attack, he asked, "Anyone else want to try something?"
To emphasize the threat, he let his signature bloodlust our for just a moment, and half of them ran screaming. The others were too scared to do much of anything.
"Thanks for that." The girl sighed, stepping away from the leader, who'd lost consciousness at some point. As soon as she did, the rest grabbed their downed friend and ran for it.
"No worries." Nagisa said before he collapsed, holding his side.
"Are you alright?!" She asked quickly, and he nodded.
"No big deal. Just took a hit at the end there." He answered, "But I can take worse. Just need a good night's sleep and I'll be good as new."
Tsubaki placed a hand on his side, and he winced slightly at the pain. "It'll take more than a night's sleep to heal this." She replied, "You've got two broken ribs, and probably a few more that are bruised."
"That bad?" Nagisa gulped, "It honestly doesn't feel that-Ouch." He shouted when she touched it again.
"No choice then." She said, "Wait here for just a minute."
Nodding, Nagisa watched her stepped away and make a quick cell phone call. However, after she hung up, she stepped into the nearby alley and held up a hand. The area in front of her started glowing blue, and he could just make out a few lines drawing themselves on the ground.
Coming, back, she asked, "Can you stand? It doesn't need to be for long."
"Y-Yeah." He responded, still trying to make sense of what he'd just seen with his own two eyes. Slowly so as not to aggravate his ribs, he got back to his feet.
"You're tougher than you look." Tsubaki admitted, "I'd have never guessed by looking at you that you could've taken a bat to gut and been able to stand afterwards."
"Yeah, you might say that being unassuming is my best talent." Nagisa chuckled, taking a step forward and almost stumbling from the pain. Tsubaki raced forward to keep him from falling.
"Alright, we just need to get you into the circle." She said, pointing towards the glowing blue circle on the ground in the alley.
"Why?" He asked, and again, his ribs started to sting.
"I can't explain, but please trust me. Once we do, you'll be able to get that wound sorted out in no time." She answered.
Though he was unsure about just blindly trusting her, Nagisa couldn't exactly do much else with the pain he was in. So, without saying another word, he slowly walked forward, leaning against the student council VP for support. Once they entered the circle, it started to glow brighter. Just when it got to the point that he couldn't see anything, it vanished. Instead of the alley, they were back at school.
"Huh?" He asked, looking around, "What's going on?"
"Here-" Tsubaki said, lowering him down into one of the chairs, "Just wait here for just a second. I'll be right back."
"Wai-" He started to say, but she'd already walked out of the room. Without anyone else around, he just sighed and looked around. This wasn't any of the rooms he was familiar with, but he could tell from the view of the sports field that this was definitely Kuoh Academy.
Out of reflex, he took note of all the exits (one door, one window, though it was the second floor and he wasn't in any condition to repel down the side), anything nearby to use as a weapon (nothing, sadly), and his own condition (not good at all). As Mr. Karasuma would say, far from optimal.
Basically, he had to hope that he wasn't in trouble, because if he was, he was basically dead.
"Sorry to bother you." Someone new said as the door opened, and his head snapped around. Tsubaki had returned, along with an unknown boy with short blond hair and wearing the school's uniform.
He might not have recognized the vice president immediately when he'd seen her, but the student council president, Sona Shitori was immediately recognizable. It hadn't been more then a few hours since she'd spoken at their entrance ceremony. "I understand you were injured protecting Tsubaki. You have my thanks for that."
"Not a problem." He replied nervously, "She was protecting me, after all."
"Still, the least I can do is see to your wounds." Sona replied, stepping towards him with her hand glowing blue, "This won't take more then a second."
"Wha-" Nagisa started to ask, but she gently placed her glowing hand on his injured ribs. As expected, a quick jolt of pain ran through his body. But within moments, it was replaced with a soothing warmth.
"There. "Sona said, standing up straight and readjusting her glasses, "There shouldn't be any more pain, and you'll be perfectly fine in the morning."
"Okay, this is just getting too crazy." He said after another moment trying to make sense of it, "Can someone tell me what's going on?"
"I hadn't intended to keep it a secret, actually." Sona replied, and at that moment, batlike black wings sprang from her back. Similar wings also appeared on Tsubaki, and the boy beside her. "My name is Sona Sitri, and I'm a devil."
"...A devil?" Nagisa asked in disbelief, but the wings on her back, and the rather blatant use of magic just now made it a little difficult to be skeptical.
"I'm not surprised you don't believe me." She answered with a nodded, "We're not exactly what most people think of when they imagine devils. But I assure you, I am the genuine article."
"It's not a coincidence that Vice-President Shinra was nearby tonight, was it?" He asked after going over the nights events in his head, "You sent her to follow me."
"Purely as a precaution, but it seems it was a good thing I did." She smiled, "Though thugs don't seem to listen, and there have been a few accidents with students who've gone against them. I sent her to make sure the same thing didn't happen to you after I saw the fight at the school gate."
"Why?" He asked, clenching his fist nervously while staring down what was, apparently, a devil, "You want to steal my soul or something?"
Sona actually managed a smirk, Tsubaki chuckled, and the boy flat out laughed before Sona silenced him with a glance.
"Nothing like that." She said, stepping back and opening the door, "You're free to leave if you wish. I simply wanted to talk and make you an offer."
"An offer?" He asked, and more from curiosity than actual thought, he added, "What kind of offer?"
"How would you like to be immortal?" Sona asked, and he was struck silent. Continuing despite his shock, she said, "I'm not lying to you. I want to offer you the chance to become immortal, as one of my devil servants."
"Devil servants?"
Tsubaki stepped forward this time, "Devils of a certain level are given the ability to turn human into devils. Both myself and Saji here were once human like you before we agreed to Sona's proposal."
"Those I say you'd be a servant, but that's not entirely accurate." Sona said with a nod acknowledging Tsubaki's comment, "I've no desire to take away your free will. If you'd prefer, think of it as a part time job. In exchange for a assisting me with a few things, I will give you power, immortality, money, land, and nearly anything else you could desire."
"I refuse." Nagisa replied, "I'm appreciate the offer, but I made a promise to my last teacher."
"Your teacher?" Sona asked.
"He was more than a teacher…" Nagira replied, "He was a friend, a mentor, a guardian, and a target. I promised him that I'd become a teacher, and pass on all the lessons I learned from him. So I can't let anything interrupt that, even a chance at immortality."
"If that's your decision, then fine." Sona nodded slowly, "If you change your mind, the offer's still open."
'Thank you for everything." Nagisa bowed before running out of the room.
"That's a bit of a strange reason to refuse." Tsubaki said after a moment.
"Maybe, but it's a reason nonetheless." Sona said, shrugging her shoulders just a bit, "Well, I guess I'll keep looking for another knight."
"No." Saji said, surprising both of them, "Let me talk to him, President. I'm sure I can get him to come around."
Sona stared at her pawn for a few second before nodding, "Alright, I'll leave it to you for a little while."
"Thank you!" He bowed.
Two days after that incident, just as Nagisa was starting to forget the events of the first day of school, his phone rang.
"Hello?" He said, picking up the cellphone.
"Been awhile, hasn't it, Nagisa?" A familiar voice said from the other end.
"Karma!" He smiled, "How are you?"
"About as good as ever. School just starting up and it's just as boring as ever. Honestly, if I wasn't in the same class as Asano, I'd probably ask to graduate early. How's thing with you?"
"Pretty good, I guess." He answered, "Mom and Dad seem to be getting along better, and school's going alright so far."
"Really?" Karma replied, "Some of my sources tell me that you were attacked the other day. You alright?"
Nagisa couldn't help sighing, "How is it that you have sources in a town you've never been to?"
"An assassin must always value information above all else." Karma answered in a passable imitation of Korosensei, "I would've thought that you, with that little notebook of yours, would know that better the me. So, are you okay?"
"Fine, it wasn't a big deal." He answered, Just some bullies.I took care of it."
"You know, if you'd like, I could give a few of the guys a call. Weekend starts the day after tomorrow, and it's not a long train ride over to Kuoh. Terasaka, Isogai, and I could come out there and teach those punks a lesson."
"It's not a big deal." Nagisa repeated himself, "You know it would cause Mr. Karasuma trouble if the E-class students go around causing trouble."
"I told you during the school trip. I know how to cause trouble away from home without caught. Besides, those bastards deserve at least a bit of torment for being stupid enough to bully you. Hell, Korosensei would've gone postal on them." Karma said, and Nagisa could practically hear the devilish smirk on his face;.
"It's fine,really." Nagisa chuckled, "I got some help from the student council vice president, and after the beating she gave them, I don't think they'll try anything."
"'She'?" Karma grinned, "Cheating on Kayano? She'll be so devastated."
"I am not cheating on Kayano!" Nagisa shouted back, before adding with a blush, "And there's nothing going on between Kayano and me!"
"Keep telling yourself that." Karma laughed, "Well, I'd better go. There's a quiz tomorrow, and Asano hasn't quite learned his place yet, so I have to study. Talk to you later."
"Yeah, see ya Karma." He smiled, hanging up the phone and sighing. It really was unlike Karma to call because he was worried about someone…
Tossing his cell onto the desk, he continued reading Korosensei's parting words for the rest of the night.
Once he'd arrived at school the next morning, he was saw the same boy who was with Sona and Tsubaki a few days earlier waiting by the front gate.
"Hey!" He waved, and Nagisa stopped in his tracks, "Shiota, right?"
"...Yeah." Nagisa replied, still not sure how he felt about being so close to a devil.
"No need to be so nervous." He chuckled, as though guessing what Nagisa was thinking, "I'm not going to do anything. I just wanted to talk. My name's Saji, by the way. Saji Genshirou. If you're free, can we talk at lunch?"
"Well, I'm not doing anything in particular, I guess." Nagisa sighed, and saji smiled back.
"Great! See you then. And don't worry. I'm buying!"
Just like that, Saji ran back into the school while Nagisa just wondered why a devil was so interested in him.
Regardless of his own uncertainty, Nagisa kept the meeting at lunch entirely because Saji didn't seem to bear any ill will. The other two also seemed like reasonable people, quite unlike what he'd expected when he heard the word 'devil'. Of course, Korosensei wasn't exactly what he'd have imagined when he heard 'Moon Destroying Superbeing'. Proof that you can never judge a book by its cover.
"I appreciate you talking with me like this." Saji said after taking a drink of his juice on the school roof, "Really, I doubt anyone would blame you for not wanting to be anywhere near a devil, never mind being alone with one the roof."
"Not a big deal." Nagisa replied, "So, what'd you want to talk about? Still trying to convince me to accept the president's offer?"
"I'd be lying if I said that wasn't part of it." Saji replied, scratching the back of his head, "But mostly, I've never met someone else like me."
"'Someone like you'?" Nagisa repeated, staring at him and seeing just about nothing in common.
"I don't usually tell anyone this, but my dream is to be a teacher." Saji smiled, "Most of the time, people just laugh and say it's impossible, or just rage about how they hate their teacher. You're the first person I've ever met who shares that same dream."
"Seriously?" Nagisa asked, "You want to be a teacher?"
"I do." Saji nodded back, "Not just any teacher, mind you. Sona has a dream of her own. In the underworld, there isn't a school for your everyday devils. Only the 'High Class' devils and nobility can attend the few schools that do exist. But Sona… She wants to open a school that everyone can attend. A place where everyone has a chance to improve themselves."
"Sounds great to me." Nagisa smiled honestly.
"It does, but it also flies in the face of everything the current underworld stands for." Saji continued, "So she's been having real trouble getting anything started. I'm just a low class devil. Hell, I'm even lower than a lot of the others since I'm a reincarnated human. I can't help her create that school. But once it's started, I want to be a teacher. It's the only way I can see that I can help her with her dream."
"That's great." Nagisa smiled at him, "I wish you the best of luck."
"Thanks." Saji nodded, "What about you? Why'd you want to become a teacher?" After a moment of thought, he added, "I heard from the President that you were in the class taught by the monster. I'd have thought that after something like that, you'd never want to set foot in a school again."
"Honestly, it wasn't at all what the media made it out to be." Nagisa replied, "He was an amazing… No, he was the greatest teacher there ever was. In that one year, I learned more than I ever would have otherwise. All of us were treated like garbage. We couldn't hope to become more then that, and it was all we were going to have to look forward to for the rest of our lives. But Korosensei came in and set us straight. He turned a classroom of misfits into first rate students and at the same time raised us to be killers who would never take a life. He never gave up on us when everyone else would've thrown in the towel the moment they met us. That's the kind of teacher I want to be. I want to be able to make a lasting impact on my student's lives, and pass along the lessons I learned in that Assassination Classroom."
"Wow... " Saji gasped at Nagisa's story, "He sounds so amazing… I wish I could've met him."
"He really was." Nagisa replied, downing his drink before getting back to his feet, "Though don't tell anyone else what I said. It's technically still a state secret."
"Sure thing." Saji chuckled, finishing his own drink and standing up, "Listen, Nagisa, I know you said that you don't want to accept Sona's offer, but I'd really appreciate it if you considered it a bit more. I could tell that you're every bit as passionate about your dream as I am about mine. If you joined us, I'm sure you'd be able to make an impact in the lives of so many children."
"Saji…" Nagisa said for a moment but he just waved.
"See ya later, Nagisa. I hope you'll give some thought alright? And whatever you decide, you've still made a friend with me. I'd love to hear more about this 'Korosensei' of yours next time."
So, there's the chapter. Thoughts? Feedback? Raging about the NagisaxKayano instead of NagisaxKarma? I'll take whatever you've got. Not making any promises on when it'll be up, since I'm not finished writing it and I did promise to work on my older stories for a while. But given enough feedback, I can certainly make chapter two a priority.