Ami I
"And so, like, I really hope we can be friends!" I declared with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, being sure to straight into her eyes so I came off as earnest as possible.
"O-Of course!" Yui Yuigahama shakily answered, smiling even though she'd seemed bothered just five minutes ago. She probably was just unhappy that she was in Class E. It was the last place a pretty girl would want to end up, after all. She pushed back a lock of coral-colored hair behind her ear. "I hope so, too, Kawashima-san."
"That means so much to me," I told her, laying the sincerity on as thickly as possible. Now for the appropriate amount of whininess… "I just transferred here and don't know anyone, so I thought no one would want to be friends with me…"
"Don't be silly!" Yuigahama assured me. It seemed like I'd been dead right about this girl. One of those quick to trust types that never thought for a second that anyone would take advantage of her. So honest. It was almost enviable. "I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends here! It's just, like…" She looked at the rest of the classroom, though her eyes seemed distant. "Everyone here might not be thinking about making friends first. Especially in this class."
Hm, maybe she was a bit sharper than I first gave her credit for. Though anyone with two brain cells to rub together would've been able to read the mood. So she gets points for basic observational skills, at least. Still, it was becoming clear to me that her heart wasn't in the conversation and that her mind was elsewhere.
Fine by me. I got what I wanted anyway. I needed to end the conversation before topics strayed toward the serious.
"Maybe," I said, pulling off the half-pout, half-cheerful voice I'd mastered over the last few years. "Well, class should be starting soon, right? I really need to find my seat!"
"Oh, shoot, me too! Well, good luck, Kawashima-san!"
"Thanks!" At that, I cleanly exited from Yuigahama and went straight for my seat. She was the last girl I needed to talk to that seemed approachable in this class. Iki, Kaname, and Kayano, were their names I think. I might have already forgotten one or two. All the rest came off as too pretentious or irritable to even bother trying to be nice to. Especially that Aisaka girl. Bratty little half-pint responded to my carefully-constructed, winning smile with a disgusted eye roll before shoving her face back in her phone.
Whatever. I wouldn't bother with a little bitch like that.
I deliberately neglected to speak to any of the boys that were in my class. For now. I'd already gotten their attention by being the prettiest girl around. That wasn't me bragging either; it was a simple fact, and besides, no other girl here was a model. Yuigahama might give me a run for my money, though, if she actually tried or knew how to play the game.
Some of the boys certainly seemed entertaining, at least. Sunakawa was hands-down the hottest of the bunch; any girl that claimed to not be ogling him was either lying or a lesbian. Yuta wasn't far behind him, all tall and slender. Between those two, there was plenty of eye candy to go around. That redhead, Emiya I think, was pretty cute, too, but he seemed a bit too… 'distant' didn't quite fit. It was hard to describe, but whatever it was, it was off-putting.
Though that was certainly better than that sniveling creep that claimed to be his "friend". Your possessive, weak charisma might work on a wide-eyed first-year, Matou, but not me. Better luck with girls like Kaname or Sonohara, they seemed like they had low enough self-esteem to give you a shot, or even try to "fix" you.
Unfortunately, Kitamura was back in the main campus, so he couldn't run interference for the creeps like he usually did. He was such a white knight. But whatever. I'd figure something out.
As I sat down in my rickety, wooden chair, I gave the room itself a more critical eye. The remnants of heavily-chipped paint sadly clung to the walls, which seemed ready to blow over at the slightest breeze. The windows were dusty and filthy, clearly never touched for what must have been years. Every floorboard creaked and groaned at the slightest weight, even when a little slip of a girl like Kaname walked on them.
Christ, this place really is a shithole. No wonder the "End Class" got dumped here.
Though I still saw this garbage heap of a campus as beneath me, it was probably for the best that I went somewhere so low profile for school. It was the best place to avoid… undesirables.
Matou walked past, giving me a toothy grin that looked like more than that of a chimpanzee than a human.
Well, those that didn't already go here, anyway.
Everyone was more or less seated at that point. A noticeably heavy silence began to fill the room, for obvious reasons; it was starting to sink in for these kids that they actually were in Class E. It was almost pitiful. The moment our teacher walked in through that door, our year as the dregs of Kunugigaoka High would truly begin.
The door opened, and three men and one woman in suits stalked into the room, their expressions grim. While everyone in the class starting murmuring amongst themselves, not even the façade I'd maintained all morning could keep my eyebrow from quirking upward.
That was… unexpected. The hell was going on here? I'd heard jokes that the old campus was like the Alcatraz for Kunugigaoka High, but I hadn't taken them seriously.
The four suits stood in front of the chalkboard and stood at attention, crisp and efficient with their every move. What, were they military or something? Another man with spiky black hair followed them into the room, tall and rigid. Even taller than Yuta, though not as much as the hulking mouth-breather who sat right behind me. He stood ahead of his… associates, I guessed, beside the desk, arms folded behind him, but otherwise said nothing.
Ooh, super serious stuff must be about to happen. Should be fun.
Anri I
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
"Do you think something bad happened?" Kaname whispered beside me, her voice full of concern. She fretted in her seat, nervously glancing back at the empty seat behind her. "I hope everyone's okay…"
"I hope so, too," I replied absently, staring at the men in suits that had suddenly walked into the room. They couldn't have been after me. Couldn't they? I was promised that no one from Ikebukuro would chase after me, but I really should have known better.
I love you. I love you. I want to love them. Let me love them. I love you. I love you.
I thought that moving to Fuyuki would be for the best. To get away from the constantly-escalating gang violence in Ikebukuro. I even left behind Celty and… the others… so that I could have some time alone. To think. But it was becoming clear I could never find peace. Not with Saika.
The man with the spiky black hair was like a statue. I'd been around enough yakuza to know that look. He was a soldier, without a doubt, one who had seen combat. Seen death. It wasn't a hard look to find, especially for someone like me. The man's eyes shifted toward the door and very slightly nodded. That must have been a signal, since the door opened again.
I love you. I love you. I lo-
And in walked…
Um.
I'd seen a lot of things that didn't make any sense. A headless horsewoman that rode a motorcycle made of shadows chief among them. But this…
"Nice to meet you!" greeted the yellow octopus-like thing that had slithered its way into the classroom. Its face, an almost cartoonish parody of a smiley face, stared back at us with tiny, beady eyes. Never once did its mouth move, frozen in a full grin. "I'm the one that blew up the moon. I also plan on blowing up the Earth next year. Seeing as I've become your homeroom teacher, I look forward to working with you!"
It listed all those things off as if they were the most natural things in the world. It was even wearing teaching robes. It had a cap on and everything. But-
LET ME LOVE THEM. LET ME LOVE THEM. I LOVE THEM. LET ME LOVE THEM.
My knuckles went bone-white, fingernails digging into my palms. I had to keep control.
LET ME LOVE THEM. LET ME LOVE THEM. I LOVE THEM. I LOVE THEM.
"I'm Karasuma, from the Ministry-"
Keep control. Keep control.
LET ME LOVE THEM. LET ME LOVE THEM. I LOVE THEM. LET ME LOVE THEM.
"-to say is classified-"
LET ME LOVE THEM. LET ME LOVE THEM. I LOVE THEM. LET ME LOVE THEM.
I could feel her inside me, churning, screaming. I had to keep control!
"-kill this-"
LET ME LOVE THEM. LET ME LOVE THEM. I LOVE THEM. LET ME LOVE THEM.
Keep control!
"Saika," I whispered through gritted teeth, so desperately and so softly that no one could hear. "Stop. Now."
… I love you.
I know you do.
I took a deep breath, slowly calming my nerves. That had gotten far too close. Whatever this thing, our new teacher was, it had to have been human. Saika only cared about humans, and for her to go crazy like that over it… It must truly been something special.
But now I could finally focus on everything else.
"Hold on, you're seriously telling us to kill that alien thing?!" shouted one of the boys.
"Hey, I'll have you know I was born and raised on Earth!" our teacher protested, waving its tentacles defiantly. It really looked like a cartoon character to life, complete with exaggerated movements and expressions.
"This is such bull," muttered another boy, the one with a red pompadour.
I love you. I love you. I want to love them. Let me love them. I love you. I love you.
As Karasuma went on to explain how this creature came to be our teacher, Kaname leaned in to whisper at my side, "Sonohara-san, do you… do you really think they want us to kill him?" Any closer and Saika might try to sneak a cut on her. I put a little distance between us just in case.
"I hope not," was all I could offer. "But if he really is planning on destroying the world, we may not have a choice."
Kaname clasped her hands together and looked down, clearly distraught.
"But… why?" she begged, her voice strained and heavy with confusion.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
