Oni
by koizumichii
Synopsis: Before Karma and Nagisa became students of Assassination Classroom, they were part of a village where a certain game was forbidden. In there, they were the Oni, and the village was the quarry.
Timeline: Prior to the manga/anime, semi-AU
Notes: Kagome Kagome is a Japanese children's game and the song associated with it. One player is chosen as the oni (literally demon or ogre, but similar to the concept of "it" in tag) and sits blindfolded. The other children join hands and walk in circles around the oni while chanting the song for the game. When the song stops, the oni tries to name the person standing directly behind them –via Wikipedia
"Kagome Kagome
(Kago no naka no tori wa) The bird in the cage
(Itsu itsu deyaru) When, oh when will it come out
(Yoake no ban ni) In the night of dawn
(Tsuru to kame ga subetta) The crane and turtle slipped
(Ushiro no shoumen dare) Who is behind you now?"
Theme Song: Rokuchounen to Ichiya Monogatari (youtube-dot-com/watch?v=vxyFUik6_Pc)
A/N: I just want a fic revolving around the folk song, further fueled by Kamisama no Iutoori Live. You should watch it.
In a village not known to anyone lies a game forbidden to play, because of the reason that the game is believed to summon an oni that devours a child. In the same village lives an orphaned boy whose hair is as red as an apple. Like every kid, he attends the only school of the community; the tuition is free so there isn't a problem regarding financial matters.
One day, before the sun has gone down, his foolish classmates want to play that. Karma is pressured to join and is voted to be the oni of the game. He smirked and said, "Don't blame me if any of you disappear."
They laughed at him.
"Ushiro no shoumen daare?"
Karma raised his head, the end of the blindfold flapping in the wind. "Masato,"
Behind the blindfold, his eyes flashed red.
The kids around him blinked.
"He's right."
"Wow, how did you make that guess?"
"Cool!"
Then suddenly, the boy whose name had been uttered vanished. In his place is a straw doll labeled with the same name. They scream and stumble, scrambling away from their red head classmate.
"O-Oni!"
A new set of shrieks fills the air as they run to their homes for fear of their lives.
Karma stands up, signs of being bothered, none. He walks casually to the straw doll, blindfold still on. He picks it up nonchalantly, then removes the cloth covering his eyes. He turns and looks at the path those children had taken. The sun had set and only the remaining rays make the village glow. Karma's expression broke into a grin; eyes glinting a heinous red. Purple marks gleamed at the side of his face.
"Didn't your parents forbid you to play?"
A pair of fangs glistened in the fading sunlight.
...
Three years later, an orphanage is founded in the village. Amongst the residence of it is a bluenette who finds the place peaceful, but feels something was amiss, as if the village is masked with a dark past. He ponders on it too long that he finds himself unable to resist the urge to dig some information. Days passed and soon, he hears children his age whispering. Curious, he asks them but they didn't repeat the conversation. The bluenette only caught a few words: kagome, oni, and mansion.
He became even more curious.
The next afternoon, he proceeds to ask around. First, the orphanage director. If a mansion is ever heard of, the director doesn't have a clue. The bluenette bit his lip; if the director doesn't know…who else will he ask? He ventured outside and decided to interview the children nearby.
"Ne, have you heard of a mansion?" He began innocently.
The kid in question ran away, crying.
The bluenette blinked.
A mother came running down a flight of stairs. The kid clutched his Mama's apron, shaking.
"Why do you ask?" The mother said coldly. "That word is a curse to this village!" She hissed, turning away, bringing her son with her.
There is a curse…?
...
It took another week to locate the mansion—far from the village, bordering the forest that the villagers warned of dangerous wild animals. It is an old mansion, withering and almost close to collapsing. Every doors and windows look ancient, as if one touch will deteriorate them.
The bluenette, even with goose bumps screaming on his skin, proceeds to step forward, inviting himself in. He pushed open the double front doors and walked inside. The furniture is covered with dusty white cloths. The other furnishings are thick with dust and fading in color. The bluenette has to cover his nose to prevent unnecessary sneezing. He let his eyes wander around; seems like the place is a century old. It is amazing how this house is still standing today.
He walks in deeper, turning his head here and there, looking for any signs of a living. It isn't long when he stops in front of the grand staircase. He shortly asks himself if it will be okay to proceed further. The place is creepy enough…and anymore exploring might lead him to an encounter with a ghost. Ghosts occupy old places like this…He swallowed. He's going to leave—
A glass shattered.
And then, the bluenette is suddenly aware of the pain throbbing in his skull before his vision dwindled to black.
...
"Ah, you're awake."
The blunette feels a cold sensation on his forehead before the clucking of tongue reached his ears. He slowly opened his eyes.
"You're trespassing. Leave," said a boy his age—his hair is blood red.
"Nice wake-up call…" The bluenette remarked, attempting to sit up but a pain in his head prevents him from doing so. This is when he finds himself tied with a rope. "W-What...?"
"Leave," the boy repeated again.
"…Are you the oni?"
Instead of answering, the red haired boy glared at him.
"…I see. I'm Nagisa…I came here to play."
"Play?" The boy merely scoffs. "With an oni? Don't make me laugh. I won't let myself be captured."
"Huh?" Nagisa raises his head. "No—No, you'll not be captured. I didn't bring anyone with me. I was simply searching for the mansion that lady was talking about. I felt like everyone in the village was hiding something…so I tried searching for it. It was you, huh."
"It's none of your business. Leave!"
This time, the red haired boy raised his voice. The bluenette felt the house shook.
"No! I want to be friends."
The boy narrowed his eyes. "I am in no need of friends."
"Then playmates?"
"I do not play anymore."
Nagisa gasps. "Why? That's not good. We should play to our hearts' content!"
The boy turns around and attempts to leave. "Go back to the village. They'll execute you if they got word you went here."
Nagisa tilted his head. "Execute?"
"It means kill, you idiot."
"Oh," Nagisa remarks, a crease forming in his forehead. "That's bad…why would they kill me for being with you?"
"…Just go back."
"Okay…but untie me first."
The red haired boy did. But as soon as he'd done that, Nagisa made a quick move and hugged him. The boy almost lost his balance. "I'm Nagisa. We're friends now, okay? I promise I won't tell anyone I went here. I'll come back. I'll play with you." The bluenette feels almost tearful. It is puzzling how one touch to this boy makes him lonely all of a sudden. How sad if this boy must be all alone for years.
The red haired boy appears to be frozen.
"Hey, can you tell me your name?" Nagisa whispered.
"…Karma. Y…You don't mind coming back?"
The bluenette loosened his embrace and faced him. "I don't mind," his face broke into a smile. "How about you?"
For the first time in years, Karma smiled back. "I don't mind at all, Nagisa-kun."
...
The bluenette secretly comes back every other day. He loves playing with Karma—he's an arrogant kid sometimes, a bit mischievous, and above all, normal. He doesn't get it why the villagers made him an outcast. So what if he made one kid disappear? It was unintentional. Besides, parents had already told the children to not play that game…it was their own fault. Karma was dragged to it.
Nagisa kicks a stone as the roof of the mansion comes to view. As he goes nearer, he can see the one of the double doors slightly ajar. A moment later, Karma peeked outside. His dull gold eyes seems to lose its shine. Nagisa instantly could tell they locked eyes.
"Go back!" Karma yelled. "Don't step foot in this mansion ever again!"
"Huh? Why, Karma-kun?" Nagisa yelled back.
"They'll find you here. I can't get you killed."
"Too late," someone muttered.
Nagisa spun around, alarmed.
"So this is where you've been going. That kid is a curse! Having contact with him would give way to the village to be plagued!" A man shook Nagisa wildly. "Do you even know what you've done!"
"I…" The bluenette felt dizzy.
"Let go of him!" Karma shouted, angry and running to Nagisa's aid.
"Cursed children! Cursed children should be locked away."
The man looked down on them, pulling them by their arms. He pushed them inside the mansion, slamming the door close and placing a large horizontal lumber to prevent the door from opening.
"Tch, you two should be dead."
That night, the villagers burned the mansion, along with the oni and a child. Amidst the fire and crumbling debris, two forms sat beside each other. Both eyes, glowing red.
"Kagome…Kagome…"
A burning wood fell on them.
...
Years later, there was a group of children chanting the lyrics of the forbidden song. They even held hands and spun in a circle but there wasn't an individual in the middle. The villagers, surprisingly, allowed them. Four days later, the same children brought dry branches of wood from the forest and piled them up in the main square. They appeared to be in a daze.
The next day, they played the game again.
"Ushiro no shoumen daare…?"
In a flash, someone appeared inside the circle, a child with hair as blue as a clear sky.
"Seiji,"
They giggled.
Two boys vanished.
The remaining children proceed to go to the main square, encircling the pile of woods they'd gathered while singing the rhymes of that forbidden game. The villagers attempted to stop them this time but were pushed away. The children's eyes were bloodlust. They continued to chant, until the pile of woods caught fire.
Simultaneous with the fire was the appearance of two children long forgotten, one sporting hair red as an apple, the other, as blue as a clear sky. They joined the chanting.
The villagers stared in horror, mouths agape.
"Ushiro no shoumen daare…?"
The whole village burst into fire.
A certain red head and bluenette smiled maliciously, one eye showing behind locks. Every house around them burned to the ground.
The red head began, "Ushiro no shoumen…"
"…dare…" The bluenette finished.
Screams erupted.
...
They stepped out of the forest.
"We've been waiting."
The two looked wildly in alarm.
"No need to be scared. I'll take you to a lovely place."
They were brought to a school and were enrolled for the year.
...
A huge yellow octopus introduces them to the class.
"They are Karma-kun and Nagisa-kun. Be kind to them, everyone."
A chorus of yes.
"Welcome to your assassination classroom, nyurufufufufu."
Karma and Nagisa look at each other, before breaking into a wide grin so wide it almost reached their ears. Marks begin to appear at the left side of Karma's face while it is on the right side of Nagisa's.
"A pleasure to join you," Both chorused like twins.
Our assassination classroom.
A/N: I know, I'm confused too.
Edit: Whenever the purple marks appear on their faces or their eyes glow red, that means the Oni (demon) is taking over.