To The Beyond Chapter 5: I, an one piece fanfic

AN: It's kind of like a science fiction story…but less so.

XOXOXO

Coming to school on Mondays was always a downfall on any student's mood, especially when you have to climb over the Himalayas. Climbing over that hill was such a drag. I thought that today would be another typical school day, but Ace made it a bit more interesting.

Portgas D. Ace kept passing out.

I thought it was strange since he came to school this morning all cheerful and looking well-slept, but he kept passing out. At random times, in fact. During classes, I would hear him snore, sputter awake, refocus on the lesson, then drop back to slumber. When it was time for PE, Ace fell to the floor while changing into his uniform. Lunchtime came around and everyone could see Ace sprawled over his desk.

"Narcolepsy."

I blinked and looked up from my bento. "He has what?"

"Narcolepsy," Nojiko repeated, waving her chopsticks in the air. "He had fits of it a couple times back in junior high, only whenever he ran out of his medication."

"What's narcolepsy?" Kuina asked.

"It's some kind of disorder that causes you to fall asleep at random times. If you ask me, I think it's dangerous."

"Why would it be dangerous?" I asked, stuffing my mouth with rice.

"Well, what if you're walking across the street, and then you suddenly fell unconscious? And what if there was a massive truck hurtling towards your body?"

"Mmm."

As we kept talking, someone from a different class requested for Ace. Since Ace was currently dead (joking, joking) and I was his supposed buddy, I answered for him. It wasn't anything particularly important seeing how the student was just escorting a middle school student.

That middle school student was Monkey D. Luffy.

Or was it Chimpanzee D. Luffy? No, wait, it was Monkey.

"Hi, Kyonko!" Luffy said, his grin meeting ear to ear. "How's Wataru doing?"

Wataru and Luffy used to go to the same elementary school since Luffy graduated. "Good," I replied. "How are your brother and grandpa doing?"

"Oh, Gramps being an ass like always," he said in a careless manner, picking his nose. I swear, this kid was weird. "My brother had been doing better, recently. He's been smiling a lot more and has been less angry, even towards Gramps! He talks about his friends all the time, though he never mentioned their names."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. It's been a huge change since these last few years. Gramps said that the reason he was being angry was because he was being hormonal, though I have no idea what that is. Do you know what hormonal is?"

"I got the generic idea of it."

Luffy pretended to know what "generic" meant as he nodded and had an expression of seriousness. "I know what 'generic' means," he said seriously, totally giving away that he didn't know what it meant.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"So what are you here for?" I asked, deciding to cut to the chase.

"What?" He gave me a blank look. "Oh yeah! Is Ace in there?"

"Huh? You know Ace?"

"Yeah, he's my brother."

…

"…Is that so?"

He nodded. "Not by blood though. Gramps adopted him since he was a baby, but we still consider one another as brothers! Anyway, Ace forgot to take his medication and I've come to give it to him." Luffy pulled out a plastic bag that sealed two blue pills. "Ya see? I have them here!"

"Well, that's certainly responsible of you, Luffy," I said, trying not to think too much of the relation between Luffy and Ace. What a small world. "I can take that to your brother, if you want. You better get to your school before lunch ends, anyway. Otherwise, you'll miss out in class."

"Hahaha! I don't really pay attention in class," Luffy laughed. I figured as much.

Luffy listened to me, anyway. He handed the bag to me and headed off back to his school. "Bye Kyonko!" he said, waving vigorously.

I waved back and went back to class. Nojiko and Kuina looked at me and the bag curiously, so I launched an explanation. Kuina was astonished.

"Luffy was Portgas-kun's brother all this time?" she gasped. "I had no idea!"

"You knew his younger brother?" Nojiko asked.

"Luffy's friends with my brother, Zoro, and they go to the same school."

Before the bell would ring, I fetched a water bottle and set it and Ace's pills on his desk. When he finally came to the world of consciousness, I watched him stare, disoriented, at the objects. "Morning already?" he mumbled.

I couldn't help but smile. Ace was pretty cute like this.

XOXOXO

And by cute, only by when he was sleeping.

Because I didn't wake him up when Luffy came over to our high school, Ace's temper sky-rocketed. I mean, it was a completely irrational reason to get huffy about, but that's Ace for you. He blew up at me about it for a good four minutes before sitting back down and burying his head in his arms, evidently sulking.

Geez, this guy doesn't know when to give up.

Other than the brother issue, the temperature of the room became so stuffy. Students were now tempted to strip off their uniforms because of it, and I too hated the way the sweat of my back clung onto my clothes. The temperature didn't help with Captain Moody Pants's temper either.

An aura of resentment and barely-repressed rage radiated out across the classroom from Ace's downer mood, leaving me with an uncomfortable pressure against my back. The clanging chime that signaled the end of the day had never ever been so welcome before; like a field mouse fleeing from a raging bushfire, I evacuated to the clubroom.

I've become so used to seeing Basil read in the corner that he'd become part of the scenery, an ornament. Like a potted plant. Or something.

Trafalgar Law had also just arrived, so it was the three of us in the clubroom that day; Ace had cleaning duty (thank goodness) and Chopper was probably delaying.

I looked at him, sighing a bit. "I suppose you have something to tell me about Portgas?"

His peculiar smile never left his face. "It seems like you've already heard it from the others, am I right?" he said, his head tilting a bit.

I frowned, but didn't say anything.

He cast a look at Basil, and then turned back to me. "Let's go somewhere where Portgas-ya won't hear us," he suggested.

So he took me to the cafeteria where he treated me a cup of coffee. We sat down at where the tables were set outside. I expected him to get on with what connection he had with Ace, but, instead, he gave me a question. He leaned forward with his elbows propped and his chin on his intertwined fingers, looking every bit like a pondering detective. "So tell me, what do you know about Portgas D. Ace?"

I shrugged. "That he isn't your everyday weirdo."

He smirked. "Well, that's certainly true. I'm glad that you already know; otherwise, I'll have much more to explain than I like to."

I sighed. Was this some kind of joke? All of the other members of the SOS Brigade had managed to inform me in their own way that Ace was not, in fact, human. Had global warming managed to fry their brains into bacon crisps or something? "Just tell me what you are and why you came to this time or planet."

"Time or planet?" he repeated, raising a brow.

"Yeah, well, Basil-sempai told me that he was an alien coming from a parallel universe, or galaxy, or whatever…" Basil had yet to make anything of what he said clear. "And Chopper-kun said that he was a time-traveler who came from the future. So what are you? A mythical creature?"

"Might that be something quite intriguing, but, unfortunately, I'm not," Law said. "I'm from the same origin as Basil Hawkins, basically, as what you called it, an alien."

Huh. "Then…would that make Chopper-kun an alien as well?" I inquired. "Considering how all three of you have goals pertaining to Portgas, I mean."

"No, Chopper belongs to this world. There is another Chopper in my world, however."

My eyebrows shot up. "There is?"

"Yes, but he isn't a human; he's a talking reindeer."

"…What?"

…

"I…don't think you're being serious," I said flatly. "Yeah, you're definitely joking with me."

"No, I am being serious. In my world, galaxy, universe, whatever, Chopper's a talking reindeer."

Law smiled cryptically.

"Right…" I said slowly. "So moving along…" I cleared my throat. "I guess this means that you're part of this Sentient whatchamacallit Organization, and you and Basil-sempai are Parallel Transmit something-something Entities, right?"

"Right, but let's just call it organization and entity. I sometimes get headaches of how ridiculously long these names tend to be." He took a sip of his coffee. "Anyway, though I am under the same organization as Basil, we have been given separate roles depending on what sectors we've come from. While Basil processes data and is put to observe, I'm from an agency that takes action to set the data in order."

Great, now we have an agency.

"If there is an agency, does that mean that there are others like you here?" I asked.

"Frankly, I don't know if there are any around in this area, but there are about ten of us in this world at this time, that I'm sure. Since I haven't been part of the agency up until recently, I have little access to details about the organization. The higher-ups are the only ones who know just about everything and are the ones who supervise the agency as well."

"So…what does this agency do, basically?" I drank my coffee. Bleh, too bitter.

"It's probably obvious by now. The organization sensed a major data flare five years ago, thus sending entities to observe the cause of such amount of data, which can be traced back to Portgas-ya. But, during observation, the situation had been from stable to unstable, and, as Basil had reported it, it was due to an external factor. You."

I was beginning to catch on. "That's why you transferred here? As a student?"

He smiled. "Correct." He set the cup back down and folded his hands again. "I'm sure you understand that this is a very important project for the organization, so we have sleeper agents around. Like I said, I have limited access of knowledge, but there is a possibility that they could be in this very school, whether as a student or a teacher. I've been transferred to this world as additional help."

Sleeper agents? Suddenly, Nojiko's face came to mind. She had been in the same school as Ace for three years…but…but couldn't mean that she was part of this organization, right?

"You're just kidding, right?"

"However, I cannot guarantee that all of them are on Portgas-ya's side," Law said, acting as if he hadn't heard me. Silence hung the air, his laidback smile wiped clean from his face as he looked at me in a scrutinizing manner. Really unnerved me. Then…he smiled again. "So, how do you think this world began its existence?"

Out of nowhere, a big question like that?

"Um, God made the world…and then put Adam and Eve and the animals and all that," I said uncomfortably.

He chuckled. "Some believe in the Big Bang theory also, but there are some people in the organization who believe in another possibility—this world, my world, the cosmetic system came in being only five years ago."

I stared at Law in speechlessness.

He just shrugged.

Finally, I cried out, "That's completely impossible! I can still clearly remember what happened even further back than five years ago! My parents are still alive, I still have the three stitches I got when I fell into a drain when I was a kid, and how do you explain all this junk that I've been desperately memorizing from our history textbooks?"

"How can you be sure that all humans, including you, are not simply created with these earlier memories? If you accept that as possible, then you don't even need to dwell on 'five years ago'. It might as well be 'five minutes ago' that the universe was born," he countered.

I didn't respond.

"Try to imagine a virtual reality. Everything that you see, smell, and touch in that virtual reality is nothing more than electrical impulses acting upon your neural centers in your brain. But you believe that everything that you experience is, well, real. Reality is...fragile."

I shifted in my seat. "Do…do you believe this?"

"Hell no," he said so blatantly that I blinked in surprise. "But I haven't been with the agency long enough to fully see how they come up with such conclusion, which, in my opinion, is absurd. Basil happens to share my thoughts exactly."

I wonder how long Basil had been with the organization. "Then what does that hypothesis have to do with Portgas?"

"Some believe that the reality we know may be nothing more than a person's dream. We are substance as dreams are made of... An 'insubstantial pageant', if you will. And for the dreamer, to create and alter this dream... well, there is nothing easier. And we all know who this 'dreamer' is…" Law frowned lightly. "Humans have always had a name for those who can destroy and remake the world at will. They have called them a god."

"Oh no," I moaned, covering my face with a hand. "That's just…crazy."

"That's what about half of the agency believes," Law said. "But, nonetheless, we must be careful. Taking reference to the Bible, when God became displeased with this world He destroyed it with a great flood that wiped away all humanity, other than Noah and his family, who had built an ark just before the flood occurred. Well, it's similar in Portgas-ya's case in that retrospect."

I put my hand to my head again. "Look, why not simply go up and ask Portgas about all this? Tell him not to destroy the world. If it's this important, he might actually listen for a change."

"He is unaware of his own powers. And part of our job is to make sure he remains so and lives out his life peacefully. Anyway, he's too…immature to take responsibility as a god, but, though he has not reached full potential yet, we have seen signs of his power."

"Such as?"

Law rolled his eyes. "Because there are such things as aliens and time-travelers coming to this world, as if the organization hadn't existed before Portgas-ya's time," he snorted. "That's what he wished for, right? For anything out of the ordinary to appear?"

I thought back to that first day. "Normal human beings do not interest me. If you are an alien, a monster, an esper, or anything paranormal, come see me at once." Was that what brought them all out of hiding? His crazy quest for the unusual?

"I still don't believe about Portgas being a god," I deadpanned, frowning. "I mean, that's just pushing it. He'll get an ego the size of Mount Fuji if someone were to tell him that."

"Then I'm glad you're sane. It was rather annoying for me to be surrounded by those who kept spouting such theories." He shrugged again. "It was hypothesized that Portgas-ya is unable to completely utilize his powers at the moment; he is only able to release them subconsciously, almost randomly. But for the past few months, he has been continually releasing powers far beyond human comprehension. One side-effect of these random power outbursts has resulted in him having Tony Tony Chopper, Basil Hawkins, and myself to join his club, without knowledge of who we are."

So I guess that makes me the only person without a secret to hide.

"However, because you are his chosen one, you're stuck with the responsibility of making sure that Portgas-ya will not slip into a state of melancholy or to tire of this reality." He patted me on the head. "May the fate of the world rest in your hands."

Oh, come on!

"Why don't you just abduct him, perform autopsy on him and see what his brain is made of?" I grumbled. "Heck, you might just learn the secrets of the universe!"

"There are some extremists within the organization who feel that way," Law said, "but the majority believes it would be best if we were to leave him alone. Who knows what might occur if Portgas-ya were to become displeased by the situation? He already has enough data to warp the dimensions of the natural state of just about anything. So, in that case, Portgas-ya must never become upset with the universe."

Wasn't that a bit too late, then? I mean, if he's always been complaining about how boring the world was and then his keen interest on making everyday interesting, then what else was there to hint on? "What are we supposed to do, then?" I asked.

"Beats me."

Okay… Well, since it was still question time…

"Then…what would happen if Portgas were to die?"

"Would the world simply be destroyed upon his death? Or would the god simply cease to exist? Perhaps a new god would replace him. Until it occurs, nobody really knows," he said nonchalantly.

I found myself not getting anywhere. Basically, the answers that he was giving me were 'I don't know's. Not that I could blame him. After all, he did say that he had limited knowledge, but it made me frustrated how I was stuck with nothing, which made me even more frustrated since I was actually buying this junk. "So you have...what, psychic powers or something?"

"You could say that."

"Then can you show me?"

"Can't, sorry. My powers are to be used on particular situations, not for show. But I do have a feeling that you will see them one day." He gave me one more smile, making me realize that he hadn't been smiling so often in comparison whenever Ace was around. I wonder he does that in order to maintain a 'mysterious student' image. "Sadly, this is where our conversation cuts short. Thanks for buying your time."

He got up from his seat and left before waving me a goodbye. I never thought that I would find myself sitting alone with my creepy sempai, and yet not be creeped out at all. No, actually, he was—and dare I say it—quite charming. I mean, in his own peculiar way. Though he was still weird. And he could do something about those dark circles around his eyes.

I took a sip of my coffee. Oh, bleh, now it's cold.

XOXOXO

When I returned to the clubroom, Chopper was brewing tea. The smell of chamomile wafted into my nose, and I inhaled happily. Somehow, all my doubts and worries had been lifted. Ah! To be in the presence of a kind and darling person! If only Ace were to shed his selfishness and obnoxiousness and be more like Chopper…

Chopper looked up from his brewing and flashed me a smile. "Welcome back, Kyonko-san! Would you like some tea? I made it myself." When I said yes, he began pouring cups. "I bought a new mix since I thought it would be nice to deviate from the old one once in a while. I hope I made this correctly."

After handing it to me, I took a sip and grinned. "It taste great, Chopper-kun."

His eyes brightened. "Really? I'm so glad!"

Jeez! How can a boy be this cute? Not that I'm complaining, of course.

I moved to the chief's seat and booted up the computer. Sensing somebody watching me, I lifted my head to find Basil's eyes fixed on me, instead of his book. When he noticed me watching him, he nodded slightly and turned his eyes back towards the pages once more.

That's...surprisingly human of him.

I opened the internet browser and went to the club webpage, trying to think of something to add to the site, but I had no idea where to start. This webpage was really just a waste of time...but I was bored. Ace would usually order us around, that was how our time was spent, but since he wasn't here, there wasn't really anything else to do.

Time passed…

Ace never came.

XOXOXO

The next morning, Ace was sprawled across his desk, scowling. This reminded me of our first encounter, except he didn't look miserable or kept pulling his collar at the time.

"Hey, where you yesterday?" I asked, setting my bag near my desk. "Everyone kept waiting for you, but you never showed up."

"What's it to you?" he grumbled.

"Just wondering…"

His eyes rose, looking at me, and then he sniffed superciliously. "If you must know, I retraced where you had gone on Saturday when you were supposed to be investigating, not moseying round as though you're on a date," he spat.

"…So, did you find anything?" I asked, sitting down.

Instead of answering me, he flung himself off the desk and back into his chair. "Argh! It's so hot!" he cried suddenly. "When is the school gonna switch uniforms? I wanna wear our short sleeves already!" Then he flung himself back onto his desk, his head being burying by his arms.

He was so exaggerating… Well, it was hot, but it wasn't that hot, at least, right now it wasn't. When I glanced at his rolled-up sleeves, I got the impression that perhaps it was his agitation that was fueling the air around him. Anyway, the school didn't change seasonal wear until June, so there was a week left before the end of May.

"Portgas. Look," I said, "I've probably said this before, I don't really recall, but haven't you ever considered just giving up on all this paranormal stuff and trying to live a normal high school life?"

I thought he'd lift his head and scowl at me, as usual, but he didn't even move. He must be really exhausted. "A normal high school life? What kind of life is that?" he muttered against the desk.

"Something like...settling down, finding a nice, normal girlfriend, you know? Although I guess you might stumble across an alien while you're dating. It'd be like killing two birds with one stone," I said, smiling at the thought. "Besides, I bet there are plenty of girls lining up for you right now. You just gotta be patient and that special someone will come around eventually."

He lifted his head up from the desk and just looked at me for a few seconds. "Hmph, like it matters!" he scoffed after a moment of silence. "Love! It's stupid! It's like...like some sort of mental illness!"

Maybe if he were to be betrothed to an alien bride, then he'll think back twice.

His eyes shifted to the window. "I do think about that sorta stuff, though. I'm a healthy guy, after all. But there's no way I'm just gonna ask some stupid girl out and be saddled with a huge burden forever! Besides, if I'm too busy going on dates, what's gonna happen to my SOS Brigade? I just founded it!"

Technically, you haven't actually founded it at all.

"Look, why not create a club that involves some form of actual entertainment?" I suggested. "That would attract more members for sure."

"No," Ace flatly refused. "I only founded the SOS Brigade because all the other clubs were too boring, and I've even recruited an interesting experiment like Chopper and a mysterious transfer student, too! Why hasn't anything happened yet? This is so frustrating…!"

This is the first time I've seen Ace this depressed. A big guy like that looking so pathetic makes me feel depressed too...

I need to stop letting this get to me.

For the rest of the day and all through class, Ace was asleep. The weird thing was that the teachers never noticed.

It's got to be a coincidence. It's just got to be.

XOXOXO

Strange things had been set in motion that day. Nobody else had noticed because these events hadn't built up to their shocking climax just yet, but I had been thinking about them all day, ever since homeroom.

You see, while I was talking to Ace, my mind was dwelling on something else. It all began with a simple note that was left in my shoe locker this morning.

The note said, "After school when everybody else has left, come to the 1-5 classroom." The handwriting was angular and archaic-looking. It looked like it had been written by a guy. There was no signature.

So, what the heck was this all about? The differing opinions in my mind decided to hold an emergency meeting to debate amongst themselves.

The first thought said, "This has happened before." But the writing was different from the writing on the bookmark. Basil had handwriting so perfect it's like printed text, but this note, although well-written, wasn't so flawless. And Basil probably wouldn't be so direct as to stick a note in my shoe locker.

The second asked, "Could it be Chopper-kun?" No, if it was Chopper, I doubted he'd just tear off a piece of paper and throw it into my locker casually. He seemed like the type of person who'd use an envelope for this kind of g

And there was no way that I was going to consider Law or Ace.

But most of all…it was also kinda weird that the specified meeting location was my classroom.

Yeah, there was no way that it was Ace! He wasn't the type to go for subtlety, eh he he…

Finally, my third thought, stronger and louder than all the rest, asked the obvious question: "Could it just be a love letter?"

I guess it made sense. The writer had specified that I should come "after everyone else is gone", and it had been stuffed into my shoe locker, which is where you'd expect to find a confession note. It's a big cliché, but an accurate one, I suppose. Still, in all my years of school, I've never, ever gotten one of these. Why would they start coming now? I don't think I'm any better looking now than I was in junior high...

My fourth thought, which was slightly more cynical than the rest of my thoughts, told me, "It's probably a prank." Yeah, Nojiko and Kuina would probably do that kind of thing; it certainly sounded more realistic than me having suddenly acquired a secret admirer. Those two would play a stupid joke like that on me, though I think they probably would've written more.

I had been drifting aimlessly through my school day while these thoughts had been swirling around in my head. As I was wondering how I could escape from Ace long enough to get to this meeting spot, he grumpily announced that he was going to go home and "Punch something."

Chance!

I decided to go to the clubroom first because I didn't want to look like some pining lonely girl who was desperate enough to wait in a classroom all day for some random stranger. If Nojiko or Kuina suddenly walked in and said "Oh my gosh, Kyonko! I'm so sorry! I didn't think you'd take a letter like that so seriously!" while secretly trying to hide her laughter, I'd be really pissed. No, it'd be better if I kill some time first and then go peek into the classroom to see if anyone's there. Yeah, that's the perfect strategy.

"You're a little late!" said Chopper happily, his back to me. He looked like he was brewing tea again. "Where's Portgas-kun?"

"He went home. Actually, he seemed pretty tired," I said, settling down on a chair. We each took our cup of tea and drunk. I guess without Ace around, we're pretty much the "Do Nothing" club."Law-sempai still hasn't arrived?" I asked, eventually.

"Oh, he did come earlier, but he said that he had to leave for his part-time job."

What kind of part-time job, exactly? Well, at least now I can cross out Law and Ace from my list of suspects.

Since I had nothing to do but wait, I played a few card games with Chopper while chatting a bit. After three games, I stopped playing and went to surf the internet for a little bit, and eventually, Basil stopped reading and stiffly closed his book. Recently, we'd taken this action of his as a sign to call it day for our club activities (though what those club activities actually were was still unclear), and we all began to pack our stuff away.

I left the room and proceeded to my classroom. The clock had said half past five when I glanced at it, so there shouldn't be anybody left in the classroom. Even if it were a prank by my friends, they'd probably have gone home by now out of boredom. Despite that, I ran up the two flights of stairs to the top floor, just to be safe. I mean, what if it really was a confession?

I breathed in deeply in the silent corridor. The classroom doors all have slightly tinted windows, so I couldn't see anything clearly inside—only that the sunset had painted the room a wonderful orange-red (though that probably indicated some level of pollution around the town). Casually, I opened the door to classroom 1-5 and stuck my head inside.

…And all my hopes and anticipation came crashing down.

It wasn't a fellow classmate or someone from a neighboring classroom.

It was Kuro-sensei.

What the heck.

"You're late," the man said, directing his frown at me. "Well? Don't just stand there. Come in."

I felt as though I had no control over my body. I mechanically moved to the middle of the room, standing before my teacher who was leaning back against his desk, and I was pretty sure that I had a face that appeared like I was constipated or something. "Y-you wanted to see me, sir?"

The light that filtered through the window hit his glasses, making the glass gleam eerily. I couldn't see his eyes because of it. The only expression I could make out were his lips, were still set into a frown. "If I hadn't, then I wouldn't have placed that note, now would I?"

Imagining a teacher sneaking in a note in a student's locker…was just plain creepy. How in the world did he manage that without anyone catching him in the act? You'd think that the students would tell the teachers and the teachers would probe him about it.

I didn't respond, just too dumbfounded by the prospect that it was merely Kuro-sensei who had made my head swim with—now that I think about it—unnecessary thoughts. But when you're an adolescent female receiving things like a letter, you naturally assume that it's a boy about to confess his love to you. So what if I've never been confessed before? I can't help it if I get over-the-edge about these kinds of things!

Kuro-sensei sighed, pushing his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. "Anyway, I have a question for you. Have you ever heard of the saying, 'It is better to have lost and loved than to never have loved at all'?" he asked, his stern tone replaced by a genuinely curious one. "And do you think that 'loving', in this context, may refer to…taking action, as well?"

What was he saying? "Well, I guess it would make sense," I said without conviction.

The man continued. "If there exist a situation where staying within the status quo would simply make things worse, and you had no idea how to improve it, what would you do?"

What was my teacher leading this conversation to? No, can this even be considered as a conversation? It was more like an interrogative discussion where all I can do was answer. "Um, try to improve it, anyway?"

Those pressed lips twitched into a small smile. "Wouldn't you say that it would be better to do anything, anything at all, and face the consequences? Because to do nothing would simply let the situation degrade, right?"

"I guess so…"

"That's what I meant!" I blinked, taken back by Kuro-sensei's sudden fervor. He wasn't leaning against his desk anymore, but was standing firmly on his feet. The light no longer shined on his glasses, which revealed a pair of self-satisfied orbs. "Exactly what I meant…"

I unconsciously took a step back. I wasn't sure what was going on…but I have the strangest feeling that something wasn't going to end so well if I wasn't careful. Note the now crazed teacher and the utterly confused student who both happened to be in the same room.

"But those above are incapable of thinking laterally," he said, abruptly adopting a grave tone. "They're out of touch with the rapid changes on this plane of reality. So I am...compelled to do something, to make something happen, so that this situation does not degrade any further. That is why I have decided to act without authorization, and force a change upon this situation."

Okay, what?

He took a step forward. "I've grown tired of having to observe a changeless environment…"

This really wasn't a joke set up by my friends, right? They wouldn't happen to be hiding in the cabinet behind me, or sitting under the teacher's desk, both barely suppressing their laughter, right? Perhaps they were expecting me to shriek and freak out by Kuro-sensei's behavior, or should I call it acting? Oh, good grief, if that was the case, then—

"That is why I have to kill you for the sake of Portgas D. Ace's reaction."

Some instinct made me throw myself backwards as a metallic-slicing noise resounded in my ears and a glimmer of steel flashed before my eyes. Wind brushed against my neck, and my back collided painfully against the wall. A sudden fog of adrenaline and fear worked its way into my system, and I watched my hair-tie fall to the floor and felt my hair drift to my sides.

Looking up, Kuro-sensei stood above me, his malicious sneer sending chills of trepidation down my spine, more so when I noticed the fine knives that seemed to have sprouted from his fingertips. He was wearing black gloves—why haven't I seen in the beginning that he was wearing gloves?

The man jerked his hand, pulling his knives-glove-weapon thing from the wall where he had embedded those knives deep into. Chips of plaster hit my face—I had a vague vision that it could have been my throat he would have sliced up.

In fits of panic, I scrambled away from him, crying out, "St-stop joking around, sensei! Th-that's r-really dangerous. E-even if it were f-fake, I'd still be really, really scared! Please, put those things away!"

"You think I'm joking?" Kuro-sensei snorted, tilting his head in a way that Law had done in the clubroom before we had our talk. "Hmmm..."

I finally had managed to get to my feet, telling myself that this had to be a joke—just a really bad joke, dang it! This was way too surreal! Kuro-sensei was the serious yet capable homeroom teacher of class 1-5! He was the kind of man who looked down on idleness and foolishness, and worked hard to make sure that each of his students was well-educated; he did not wear some weird pair of dagger-installed gloves and go swinging them around in hopes of making heads roll!

But…he mentioned about having to kill me, right? In sake of Portgas D. Ace's reaction? What the heck! Was this about Ace again? And what about having to kill me? To see if he'll react to my death?

"I-I don't understand what you're saying!" I said quickly, an undercurrent of fear audible in my voice, eyes darting around the empty classroom. "This isn't funny anymore, okay? Put th-those things away!"

"I can't do that," Kuro-sensei said, smiling uncharacteristically sinisterly, "because I really do want you to die!"

He brought his elbow back, his hand gnarled and the knives spread open, then he thrust his palm at me in a blink of an eye. I was lucky that I managed to anticipate his movements and threw myself sideways just in time. I heard one of the students' desks shatter as I ducked under his arm and bolted for the door.

I rushed forwards, the door getting closer with every step, and ran straight into a wall.

What the heck!

Where did the door go? Even the windows were gone! A second ago, the windows and the doors to the corridor were there, but now it was just a gray wall!

No way!

"Do not attempt to escape." His voice grew closer as I scrabbled desperately at the blank surface. "I have gained control over this sub-space. All exits have been blocked. Quite simple, really—all I needed to do was tamper with the molecular structure of the materials at hand. In any case, this room has been sealed. There are no ways in or out."

I turned around, prepared to dive through a window if necessary, only to find that the sunset—or, more to the point, the other windows—had disappeared as well. All that was left were giant concrete walls, and the cold white light of the lamps shining down onto whatever desks remained.

This can't be! This wasn't possible!

His silhouette moved slowly towards me.

"As your teacher, I order you to cease resistance. You're going to die anyway."

No matter where I looked there was nothing but undisclosed concrete and featureless walls. There wasn't a single door, a single window, nothing! Was there something wrong with my brain?

I frantically dashed between the desks, trying to get as far from Kuro as possible. But he just moved slowly towards me in a straight line, smiling his sinister smile as he sliced desks and chairs aside like so much kindling. Unlike him, my path was always blocked.

This game of cat and mouse did not last very long. Pretty soon, I was cornered.

If this was how it was going to end, I decided—to hell with it! I hurled a chair at Kuro with all my might, but it slowed and stopped in the air before it got anywhere near him, and then flew off to the other side of the room, landing in a cloud of dust.

This was impossible, completely impossible!

"Impressive strength for a life-form of your characteristics, but resistance is futile. Everything in this room moves according to my will."

Ah, totally unfair!

"Nothing you do has any meaning. It is useless." Kuro sighed and adjusted his glasses as I desperately began to tense my legs to try and leap over a table to escape. "Hmm...what did I just say? I should have just done this from the beginning, I suppose."

I couldn't move my body.

The second he said those words, my entire body just froze in place. This was totally unfair!

My feet were rooted to the ground like a tree, unable to move even the smallest muscle. My arms were fixed like a wax statue, and I couldn't even blink. All I could do was stare in horrification at Kuro's face as he slowly approached, bringing his claws up.

"Once you die, Portgas D. Ace is bound to have some sort of reaction. This may result in a massive data explosion from which we may salvage something. This might be the one-in-a-million-chance for us."

I still have no freaking idea what you're on about!

"So please." He grinned wickedly. "Die!"

At least let me close my eyes...! No, I couldn't even do that.

As ten blades began to descend towards my face, I felt a sudden sense of pressure in the air around me, and…

The ceiling suddenly collapsed in with a massive, loud crack and a protesting groan as debris began to tumble down, raising massive clouds of dust and obscuring my vision. Some of the smaller pieces rained down upon my unlucky head, and I ducked beneath my raised arms to ward off the rubble. Argh, great—wait, I could use my arms? I could move?

I lifted my head to discover…

Kuro, displaying the only look of surprise I'd ever seen on his face, knives halfway towards me, clothes and hair covered in just a slight coating of white dust. And in front of me, catching the knives by one long sword, was Basil Hawkins.

"Your programs were too basic," Basil said monotonously. "The data lockdown on the ceiling was incomplete. It did not withstand an intensive assault."

"You wish to interfere?" Kuro sniffed scornfully. "Once I slaughter this girl, Portgas D. Ace is bound to have sort of reaction. Only then can we obtain more information."

"You are my backup. Insubordination is forbidden. You must obey my commands."

"Oh? And what if I refuse?"

"I will disconnect your data entity."

Kuro smirked. "Would you like to try, Basil? I have the advantage here. This classroom is under my data jurisdiction."

Basil stiffened for a second. "Processing application for data entity disconnection—"

The second Kuro heard that, he leapt backwards around five meters away. Confronted with this kind of scene, I couldn't help but actually acknowledge the fact that these two really weren't human.

Kuro landed gracefully in the distance and rose back to his full height. As he strolled forwards towards as once more, the space around us began to distort—that's the only way I could describe it. The desks, the ceiling, the floor, everything began to shake vigorously and began to take on the appearance of liquid metal.

"Well then," Kuro said, "Let's see how you handle this!"

The liquid metal rose, formed into the shapes of spears, and suddenly hurled themselves at us from every direction with lightning-fast speed. But Basil blurred before my eyes and suddenly the spears were all embedding themselves by my feet or around the room.

As the dust cleared, Kuro charged forwards, claws ready. Panicking, I tried to turn and run, but Basil leaned backwards and grabbed my arm. "Do not attempt to move away."

One of his wrists (probably the one holding the sword) was suddenly behind my head as he shoved me downwards whilst dodging a few swings of Kuro's claws.

"Aaaah!" I screamed as something flew over my head and smashed the blackboard to pieces.

I caught glimpses of Basil glancing upwards, and icicles instantly sprouted from the ceilings and crashed down towards Kuro, who dodged away at a speed that was incredibly difficult to follow with the naked eye. A second later, a forest of stalagmites exploded upwards from the ground.

This was insane!

"This area of space belongs to me," announced Kuro calmly. "There is no way for you to prevail."

He and Basil stood a few meters apart, facing each other, while I could only kneel on the ground shaking, afraid to stand, my hopes scattered to the winds.

It was then that Basil began to mutter something in a droning tone. "Target name: Kurahodal—hostile intent confirmed. Beginning disconnection of target's organic information interface."

Normal physics must no longer apply in this classroom—everything was turned into crazy geometric shapes, twisting and turning before my eyes. It was like a theme park's house of horrors, illusions and stomach-churning dimensions. I was starting to get dizzy!

"You will cease functionality before I do. We'll see how long you can last protecting that pathetic thing," said Kuro quite casually, his voice seemingly coming from everywhere at once. "Take this."

My eyes flickered in all directions that I could manage. It was so hard trying to see through this whirlwind of color!

Whoosh...went the sound of something slicing through the air. At that, Basil suddenly spun, dropping his sword and grabbing me by the shoulders to throw me aside.

"H-hey! What are you—" Before I could finish, I heard the distinctive sound of metal meeting flesh.

Basil stood above me, impaled straight through the chest by Kuro's blades. At least three feet of steel tore through his skin and uniform…

Oh, no...

"B-BASIL!" I screamed, eyes widening in horror.

"I told you not to move," Basil spoke softly, looking at the blades sticking out of his ribcage. A pool of blood was slowly beginning to form beneath his feet. "Do not worry for my sake; I am fine."

How does having knives protruding from your body be fine? Stupid, stupid, stupid Basil!

Unflinchingly, Basil grabbed hold of the knives, as if he couldn't feel the blades cutting his fingers, and tugged on hard. Kuro frowned lightly, and then vanished behind a flurry of flying objects, abandoning his glove.

"I can't see you defending that human very well in your damaged state," Kuro said somewhere in the room, "but it would be unwise to leave you still functional. Goodbye, Basil."

On the other side of what had once been the room, Kuro's silhouette began to become transparent from the twisted lightshow. I could see his smirk as he slowly folded his arms over his chest…and giant black tentacles, tipped with spikes, sprouted violently from his back.

"Now, die."

Asakura's tentacles extended, wriggling like worms, and shot in on Basil from behind. Unable to move, his slim figure shook violently, and the next second, my face was splattered with blood.

One tentacle clawed into Basil's right abdomen, another into the left side of his chest, another through his throat, through his arms, his legs… Too many to count. Blood spattered from Basil's mouth, his wounds, and down along his legs, pooling beneath his legs. Blood stained his once pretty hair, drenching it in a dark color.

"It's over," Basil muttered, reaching one hand out slowly and clutching a spike. Nothing happened.

"What's over?" Kuro asked, sounding deeply satisfied. "You mean your days of piracy, your chance of ever returning back to the other world? I must admit, what a short life you have lived, Basil Hawkins, and what a pity that you never got a chance to say farewell to your crew."

What was he talking about?

"No." Basil didn't even sound like he was on the verge of death. "Commencing data interface disconnection."

Almost instantly, everything in the classroom began to glow brightly, and then crystallized and dissolved, turning into sand.

"H-how...how can this—?" Kuro's face shifted into the second expression of surprise I'd ever seen as crystallized sand drifted down from the ceiling. "No… NO! This cannot be!"

"It took me some time to penetrate the firewall program," Basil said as the tentacles protruding from his body dissolved into sand. "But now, everything ends."

Basil was dropped to the ground, like a ragdoll, and I automatically dove in to catch him. I was astonished to see…straw dolls, like the kinds where you buy at voo-doo stores, growing out of his wounds and falling onto the ground. The straw dolls were soaking up the attacks that his body had endured as it could be seen that his injuries were closing and the blood was dissipating—it was as if he never got hurt in the first place. It was…really odd.

Kuro, to my bafflement, was turning into sand as well. He bore his teeth before Basil, hissing, "One day, Magician, one day you will taste defeat, and we'll see who'll be locked away!"

"Silence," Basil commanded, his eyes narrowing. "You will not refer to me by that title."

"Oh ho, what will it matter now that you and I will never cross paths again?" he snorted contemptuously. Then, when Kuro turned to me, only his head floating in the air while the crystallized sand was eating its way up, he smiled at me in an ominous manner. "Well, to you, young lady, I suppose I shall wish you and Portgas the best of luck. And who knows? Maybe the organization will see how right I am and order Basil to kill you."

With that said, he gave me one last smirk before completely vanishing.

I stared into the space that the man had once before occupied, then I was awaken from my reverie when a hand tugged on my cardigan. Looking down, I noticed Basil trying to sit himself up. "A-ah! Hang on, I'll go call the ambulance or something!" I rambled in haste.

"There is no need," Basil assured, locking his calm pale eyes with my frantic dark ones. "Physical damage is of no consequence. Current priority is the restoration of this sub-space into its original state." When the sand stopped falling, Basil stiffened. "Removing impure substances… Reconstructing classroom."

In a flash, classroom 1-5…appeared before my eyes. It was like a tape rewinding; everything in the room forming out of the crystal sand threw itself back into shape and solidified. The blackboard, the desks, the windows… It was rather indescribable.

Basil seemed to have recovered instantaneously, probably thanks to those straw dolls that had vanished along with the weird things that Kuro brought, but he seemed weary. Then I noticed that the blood splattered on my face and the blood staining Basil's uniform had disappeared too.

"Hey, are you okay—oof!"

Basil, my savior, had collapsed on top of me from trying to get up on his own.

"Processing power…has been converted into data operation, therefore…the linking entity has been temporarily reversed," he muttered into my shoulder.

Normally, I would have turned flustered by this personal invasion, but right now I'm exhausted. Heh, not like I did anything, but the turn of events was just too alarming. The one who deserved to be energy-deprived at the moment should be Basil, and he's displaying it right now.

"Uh, you want some help up?" Not that I'm in a position to give any, but...

"There is no need." And just before he could lift himself off of me, the door swung open.

"And you'd think that by now my little sister would…"

Lo and behold, Kuina and Nojiko bearing witness to a sempai straddling their friend on the floor. Nojiko must have been fiddling with her camera-phone, since she was the only one out of all of us to own one, because there was an animated shutter sound that went off.

Now, thinking this with a clear mind, my two friends must have come to some bizarre conclusion as they ogled at us, in addition to my hair being undone. If I still had my ponytail, this could easily be explained (by lying, of course).

It still would be a nice attempt to convince them otherwise, but I never got the chance to since they both turned bright red and fled out of the room after crying out, "S-sorry for the disturbance!"

"No, wait! You guys!" I called after them, but it was too late. I sighed heavily. "What should we do now?"

"Leave it to me," Basil said, now lifting himself off of me. "Data manipulation is my specialty. I shall let everybody think that Kurahodal had transferred out."

That wasn't what I was talking about, but…data manipulation? Was that how he does it?

I've just experienced something incredible. This was no longer an issue of whether I believed in all the stuff Basil told me the other day, and the things that Chopper and Law had told me were probably true as well.

Previously, there had been a small part in my mind that doubted whatever they said. I always had a feeling that they were hired by Ace to pull my leg with their mumbo jumbo junk, just to get me on my moment of uncertainty. Heck, I was even convinced that Basil was actually a famous actor from Norway or something, able to maintain a stoic façade the entire time he spat out lies to me… But it was actually real. Or maybe that I was dreaming? I don't know. It's become too complicated for me to register properly.

Ugh, now I'm freaked out. My world has been officially flip-flopped. And what's more? What Kuro had told me before he vanished about the organization ordering Basil to kill me…yeah, I don't think I can sleep well tonight.