Author's note: This is my first Ansatsu Kyoushitsu fic. This chapter is woefully inadequate, cos I threw this together in an hour after my plot bunny refused to leave. Please tell me if there are any mistakes. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu.
Chapter 1: Tentacles
The little boy runs towards the old woman, throwing his tiny arms around her leg. "Obaa-san!" The lady chuckles and picks up the toddler, supporting his weight on her hip. "How are you, my Nagisa-chan?"
"I'm happy to see you, Obaa-san!" He beams at her, pearly teeth showing. Then his eyes fixate on something behind her, and she turns to see what he is looking at. It is the crescent moon, hanging low on the horizon as the sun begins to rise behind it.
"Why is the moon is a crescent?"
The old woman smiles cheerlessly. "That is a long, sad story, Nagisa-chan. Are you sure you want to hear it?" The boy nods vigorously. "Alright, then."
"Hundreds of years ago, they say that the moon was round."
"Round? Like a ball?"
"Yes, just like a ball. But then one day, a terrifying creature came along and blew up most of the moon. Boom! And the next thing everyone knew, the moon looked like someone had taken a bite out of it."
"Like a cookie."
"Exactly like a cookie. They used to say that at night, the moon could be either crescent or round, but after the monster 'ate' the moon, it will always be a crescent."
"But why?"
"The moon is a big round rock hanging outside the Earth. You know how once you crush a rock into powder, the powder can't become a rock again? That's what happened to the moon. So now it's a crescent."
"I wanna see a round moon, Obaa-san!"
The old lady chuckles, but it sounds forced. Let the child dream a little longer. He is still young. "I'll show you the history books. We hardly have any documentation of a round moon, so don't get your hopes up."
"I'll help you look! I really, really want to see a round moon."
"Then let's go look for it. After you." She puts him down, and Nagisa runs into the house happily. The old woman looks back at the crescent moon, its gaping maw a reminder that nothing could ever be the same.
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"Obaa-san! Look, I found some worms!" Nagisa holds out his cupped hands with the soil containing the wriggling yellow worms he dug up. The old woman's eyes widen in recognition and horror.
"Nagisa, no! Those aren't worms!" It is too late. The tentacles have wrapped themselves around the arms of the boy - some are inching their way up towards his body while others burrow into his skin. The boy lets out an ear-piercing scream, falling to his knees. With a speed impossible for someone of her age, the old lady runs inside and grabs the green rubber knife hanging above the fireplace, as well as a jar of pink powder.
She dashes back outside and almost stops in her tracks at the sight of her grandson almost completely covered in yellow 'rope'. His face is the last thing to be obscured, and he chokes out a cry of help before his eyes are covered. She gives herself a mental shake and drops the knife, reaching for the jar instead. She tried to twist the cover off the jar, but it is stuck. Howling in frustrated terror, she hurls the jar on the ground next to the small figure, now completely cocooned in yellow. The jar shatters into a million tiny fragments, pink powder flying everywhere.
The moment the powder touches the yellow tentacles, they begin to melt. A high pitched keening is heard as the mess of semi-melted tentacles slithers off the little boy, heading back towards the patch where they had been dug up. The old woman snatches up the knife and chases after the tentacles, slashing wildly. But it is as if they can see her coming, and they zoom off faster than she can see. All that remains is the disintegrating slime that had trailed behind it.
A soft whimpering catches her attention, and she rushes back to her grandson's side. He is completely covered in yellow goop. She wipes away the stuff on his face so he can breathe, checks his vitals – pulse, check, breathing, check – then carries him into the house, yelling for help.
The rubber knife swings from her hip as they rush the boy to the hospital, its surface glittering dully.
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The old lady, her daughter and son-in-law are all waiting anxiously for the doctor. When the door to the surgical theatre finally opens, they converge on him in an instant. "Doctor! How is he? How is Nagisa-chan?!"
The doctor held up his hands. "Calm down, please. His condition has stabilised. He will be alright. We have confirmed that it was indeed the tentacles that caused this, and I suggest that a police check be made at your house to ensure it won't happen again."
"Of course, of course! Can we see him now, please?" Her daughter is frantic, and the doctor nods slowly as he leads them to the room. "But please be warned, he's a bit different-"
His words are ignored as the desperate lady rushes in, and a scream makes its way to their ears not a moment later. The rest of them push through the door, and see her kneeling on the floor, hands over her mouth, tears leaking out of her eyes. The old lady turns to face her grandson, terrified of what she will see-
Surprise. Shock. She blinks several times, but no, the scene in front of her is genuine. It looks like there is nothing wrong with the little boy; in fact, he had been sleeping peacefully. His mother's shout has roused him, and he stirs, blinking blearily as he sits up. "What's going on? Okaa-san?" His mother refuses to meet his eyes.
"Otou-san?" He looks to his father next, but the man is staring at him blankly, as if he were looking at a stranger.
"Obaa-san?" He calls to her meekly, small and afraid since his parents would not look at him. Snapping out of her reverie, she marches briskly to his bedside and gathers his small frame into a hug. "It's alright, Nagisa-chan. Nothing's wrong."
"Then why do Okaa-san and Otou-san look so scared?" He whispers.
"Don't worry, Nagisa. You just look a bit different, but it's nothing bad. Though I suspect you'll look like this for the rest of your life." The doctor pulls out a small hand mirror from his pocket and hands it to the boy, who accepts it with apprehension.
The moment he sees his reflection, he drops the mirror in shock. "Is… That… Me?"
The old lady squeezes his shoulders. "It's alright, Nagisa-chan. You look very nice."
"R-really…?" The boy's hand creeps towards the mirror again, picking it up to stare at his features more closely. No, there is nothing very different about him on the outside. The doctor said that on the inside, none of his organs were changed, nothing was altered. (He told the adults separately that perhaps, in future, they might see changes. The action of the tentacles is like cancer, slowly creeping and changing things.)
But he could see the changes, and wondered what they would mean for him.
In his reflection, where brown eyes were, now, blue eyes sparkle. And his newly-changed blue hair stands out against the white walls.
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"Karma-kun! Wait up!" The redhead turned around lazily, and a moment later, the blue-haired boy caught up to him, panting. "You said you'd wait for me at the station!"
"I did wait. And I can continue waiting while you go ahead."
"Then we'll both be in trouble for being late! Come on!" The cerulean-haired boy tugged on his friend's hand, pulling him towards the medical centre. To everyone else, it looked like a regular hospital, but deep underground, it was a whole different story.
Nagisa and Karma burst through the doors with one minute to spare, and the receptionist looked at them with disapproval. "You're late again, boys."
"Sorry. The day was so lovely, we just had to stop for a while." Karma flashed her a stunning smile, and her glare softened slightly.
"There is no such thing as a 'nice day', just like there's no such thing as a full moon. Come up with better excuses, Akabane-kun. Now hurry up and get." She jerked her head towards the elevators.
Karma shot her a mock salute and Nagisa towed him down the hall in exasperation. They stepped into an empty cargo lift, and Nagisa typed a complicated string of numbers into the keypad. This caused a second panel to open up, revealing the handprint scanner with a panel for each of their hands. A mechanical beep signalled that the scan was complete, so they pulled back their hands and waited for the descent to begin.
"Welcome, Shiota Nagisa and Akabane Karma." A cool, mechanised voice echoed through the speakers as the handprint scanner regressed into its compartment.
"Drop the act, Ritsu. We know it's you." The small screen above the keypad buzzed to life, and the image of a teenage girl beamed at them.
"Don't be so mean, Karma-kun. It's standard protocol. Karasuma-san is watching your descent."
"Yeah, yeah, got it."
This is a faculty for monitoring people who have been attacked by the tentacles. It has been several hundred years since the monster known as Koro-sensei was assassinated, but somehow, some tentacles have managed to survive on earth. About ten years ago, a series of simultaneous attacks on children had this division reopened, and the assaulted children come here for regular check-ups.
The effect of the tentacles' attack on the body system are still largely unknown, but recently, some of the children have noticed that certain symptoms have appeared.
"You have arrived at the ground floor of headquarters. Karasuma-san is waiting in his office."
"Thanks, Ritsu." Nagisa smiles at the AI as they exit the lift, their footsteps muffled by the carpet. It's a long winding path before they reach the office, but Karma doesn't say a word until Nagisa raises a hand to knock. "How bad do you think it'll be?" His voice is a little muffled, as if he were mumbling. And Akabane Karma never mumbled.
Two firm knocks are placed on the door's surface - neither Nagisa's face nor actions betray how he feels about their unique situation. He glances up into Karma's gold eyes, letting a little despondency bleed into them.
"I don't know."
We are but two of the many children that the tentacles got, and now it's time to face the music.