My first fic. I prefer critics to people who tell me it's good, but anything works for me.
I do not own Bakuman
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Spring was coming, and a pleasant buzz seemed to fill the air around the large imposing public school as high schoolers made their way lazily into class. The trees swayed with the pretty spring winds and the grounds were covered in grass and footsteps. The beautiful day seemed wasted as the students made their way into the classrooms.
Upon entering the school, they were greeted with a general uneasiness. Not the kind that exams, tests, or quizzes cause, but the kind that is caused by something you never noticed not being where it was supposed to be. In this case, nobody knew what it was. But even so, the people, ignoring it, you understand, continued with their day, as if nothing happened.
And slowly, some of the more carefree ones were freed from even a memory of that unrest. And all things were continued as they did from the first class to the lunch break, and from the lunch break until the last class.
Takahashi Rinturusu was not one of the lucky few allowed to forget the dark feeling festering in their hearts. Each tick of the clock seemed endless to him, each passing second was a second closer to what he feared.
But he had no real, tangible fear, because he did not know what he could fear. The teacher seemed to fidget every time their dysfunctional speaker buzzed ominously, and the tap of footsteps outside seemed to make things all the more uncertain. But, all in all, he could find no cause in his mind. Only that soft, itching apprehension.
Takahashi could almost feel the clock stopping. The teacher's talking turned to an unpleasant growl at the back of his head. He tuned it all out. Feeling around for what he was worrying after, wondering at this sensation that he had planted in him.
His eyes snapped open. It was coming very soon. He could feel himself sweat thickly as he looked around, wondering if anyone else had felt it. Saeki, the class vice-president, seemed to suddenly go cold with dread, her face nervous. Several other students shifted and flinched constantly. A whimper came from the back of the classroom.
And then a strange, unnatural plainness fell onto his heart. He felt as though he was worrying for nothing. His eyes closed as he looked for how normal the day had been, assuring himself of its complacency.
How serene.
And then, the ground shook. Not an earthquake, but not a simple rumble either. Something was about to go terribly wrong.
Click.
A mummer passed through the class as students discussed the possible causes of the earthquake. Many students had heard the click. And the long, persistent strokes of the clock were gone.
"Welcome to the Classroom of Truth." A chill went down each spine in the room. One of the girls in the back squeaked fearfully. The teacher looked up at the usually static announcement box in confusion. The audio suddenly seemed clear.
The voice was smooth and easy to hear, not too loud or too soft, "My name is Kami." Each student felt their breath catch in their throats at the way the man clicked out his own name, or his own proclamation of godhood over them. Takahashi could almost see him adjusting the knobs in the announcement room as his voice cleared even more. "I will have everyone from the first-year participate in a survival game."
A few of the boys laughed, and the teacher sighed before going to the door, "Such a bad prank. Seriously." He muttered as he closed his fingers around the knob.
Nothing.
Everyone froze. "The door…"
Fingers fumbling just slightly, the teacher grabbed for the doorframe, trying to pry the door open. It was an act of desperation, and it seemed that everyone suddenly knew that it was time for such acts.
One of the boys ran to the window, grabbing it and jerking hard, trying to pull it open. The girl in the back was crying now, whispering about a voice in her head under her labored breathing. The boy at the window swung around, "Sensei! The window won't open!"
Takahashi felt his eyes bulge as he stared at the desk. No one could have locked the window without one of the thirty nervous students in the room not noticing. Something supernatural was being played with. Still, he did not move. The rules of the 'game' Kami had mentioned should explain something. And if Takahashi wasn't wrong, they were coming soon.
Boys and a few girls started to throw chairs at the windows just as the voice came up again, seeming to cause all the other noise in the room to dim. "The only person who can escape this classroom is the last surviving person."
At this, many people cried, and even more started working on the windows, banging it with their fists until blood was smeared on them, obscuring the view of the city. Screams of terror filled the air and joined the teary sobs of other students. Many shocked teenagers simply sat on the floor and wailed.
Still fewer, among whom was Takahashi, sat still, unable to believe that they were at the mercy of a human who called himself god. Not willing to believe it.
And in one moment, it all fell silent. Students stared at the ceiling and the unbroken windows, at the door and at the floor.
The first to speak was a boy, "Are we really trapped in here?"
To this, a good deal of discussion ensued, and many students decided that it wasn't hard to trap them in the class room. Although the smarter ones knew that breaking the glass should have been easy. The still, silent ones also knew that being locked in wasn't their only problem.
Once again, the cold, dead voice spoke, "Looks like you've calmed down from the panic that began when you first learned you were trapped."
Returning to his desk, the teacher ignored to voice, "It's all right. Someone from outside will realize this and come in to help us." He seemed hassled, but completely sure of what he said. The girl stopped crying and resorted to hiccuping tearily now and then. Her friends patted her back softly.
"That will not happen." A certain measure of anger seemed to be hidden in the emotionless voice, an annoyance, "The time within this classroom is frozen. Once you leave the room, you will be taken back to your original world and time will go back to normal."
Once again, the teacher stepped in, and voice the opinion of the class, "How can we believe such absurdity?" he yelled as the metal box, sounding perfectly absurd himself.
"Once you see what will happen, you will be forced to acknowledge this fact." A small laugh, "Well then, the first game will begin."
Another wave of discussion passed through the class, as each student slowly came to the conclusion that they might die. The teacher had reached a point of panic, it seemed, and his eyes flitted nervously across the room, as if judging each one in it.
Silence fell as the voice began again, "Anyone who does a certain thing will die, and the last person alive will be allowed to leave the room."
Nobody moved for a moment, and then the classroom burst into clattering noise. "That's all?!" yelled some, "What do you mean by 'a certain thing'?" and, "Explain it properly! If we don't know, we can't-"
The voice finally interrupted the noise, breaking it with its slow, bored tone, "You will understand soon enough. Please concentrate on being the last one alive."
The noise seemed to have returned with vengeance after its short break. There was noise everywhere. Everyone was making noise. They didn't truly care what noise it was: Wails, screams, crashes, gibberish, swearing, and pounding filled the air. They were all scared with nothing to trust for their escape. So they ran wild. Fear grasped their hearts quickly, easily, and effectively. Many of them started bleeding from thrashing so much. Many felt sick in the pits of their stomachs. Many closed their eyes, clenched their fists, and prayed themselves. Many stalled time by trying to prove it wrong.
But they all knew that they were in deep, deep trouble.
At this point, Takahashi was the only one sitting still, and the hubbub of the room needed to be stopped before someone got hurt. But apparently, that was inevitable.
Nonetheless, the teacher slapped his hands on his desk loudly calling for silence. With the moment of shock given to him by the loud noise, he said something reassuring, "Calm down! We should work together to get out of this classroom!"
To Takahashi, it was a bold thing to say, and he was almost proud of the man.
Hurgh. A choking noise, a soft poof, a tinkle of glasses hitting the floor. Their teacher disappeared right out of his clothing, his glasses shattering on the cold floor.
"The first person to fall. Nakamura Sensei. Killed. 37 people remaining." The cruel statement of facts. The painful truth. That terrible voice seemed just a shadow of what had just happened.
They had witnessed death. Not slow, quiet, peaceful death. Nor was it quite a quick, bloody death. It was a supernatural death. And they were all in danger of it.
An eerie voice emanated from the pile of clothes, a mere echo of their teacher's, "If this is true, then I have to find a way to kill all these kids, and…"
The game had begun.
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Thanks for reading! This was once posted on an earlier account that I deleted.
Review?