A.N. Well everyone, this is it: Wrath, the final chapter! Though the main idea behind this chapter is one I had since I first thought up this story, I must say that it turned out a bit different than I anticipated. Nevertheless, I hope you all enjoy it!
It tickled his cheek, the oddly incessant howling wind did. It came and went and felt cool each time, as expected of a breeze on an early spring morning; unexpected, however, was how it sometimes felt like it pushed against him to the point of hurting. Still, he wasn't about to let that ruin the peaceful bliss he felt after that horrible dream he had; so he rolled over.
A shrill cry of fear later, and suddenly the incessant howling wind turned into squabbling and the tickling of his cheek became revealed as a pointer stick that clanged to the ground. Yukio's eyes flicked to the blonde maiden in front of him. She clung to his brother, but the teacher could assess that whatever mutual feelings of comfort they shared were quickly dissolving, for Rin's hold on her seemed lax and his grinning visage fixated on a head of nightshade.
Yukio stood and looked towards the door. It would seem the rest of his class made up the giant wad that desperately tried to fit through the tiny classroom door all at once. He breathed in deeply and looked to his feet. A book he had slowly become to hate over the course of this nightmare stared back at him with mocking silence. Reaching down, he grasped it more harshly than he expected himself to and bothered not to brush off the cover coated with ectoplasm and debris before flipping it open straight to the page he needed. "In conclusion of the lesson, we will now release Wrath."
Everything fell silent, and while he may normally enjoy silence and hate anything noisy, that both of those things presented themselves to him in the past few moments neither heartened nor dampened his psyche. And the reason for that was clear as the early spring morning he had just awoken from. The day was to blame. The teachers were to blame. The lesson was to blame. The students were to blame. Indeed, they all were to blame. Each and every single one of them equally and without a shadow of a doubt.
His eyes fell upon Shima. What good was he? The lecherous fool! Two times he had attempted to save the day, and each time he failed. Oh, and that second time he chose to try and save his fellow lecherous classmate over his beloved teacher? How insolent!
And the other lecherous fool. She looked like a disaster, her hair a mess and sticking to her face while her clothes were torn nearly asunder. Too caught up in blind rage over her romantic shortcomings to even protect herself—how pitiful! If it weren't for her, perhaps the other lecherous fool would have opted to try and save his beloved teacher, but that would certainly be giving him far too much credit.
The object of her affections—was he approaching her? That sorrowful look of regret on his face, surely they couldn't be making up? How despicable! His constant badmouthing only served to worsen the day. How dare he insist that his teacher—his brother—has fantasies of a woman!
But what a woman she was, her innocence and alluring physique and constant clinging to another guy! If it weren't his brother she clung to, it was any of the other guys! How shameful! Such an act could be considered polyandry!
Oh, and that other guy. That foulmouthed pompous piece of…what a fool he made of his teacher! Daring to flaunt sarcasm from his mouth, to take advantage of and bend the morals of a professional teacher who simply pours all that he is into the job he loves. How deplorable!
Speaking in such a manner to a superior, it was the sin of yet another! That bald boy, daring to insist that his teacher's lessons are madness! How impertinent! If a lesson was what he wanted, then a lesson in respect he would get! To assault a teacher with such verbal abuse…
Physical assault would not go unpunished either. What student would openly attack his fellow classmates? To utter words better left at the bottom of the abyss, and then summon forth a creature from it in an attempt to drag them in, never to be seen again! How asinine!
How absurd!
How preposterous the entirety of it!
The Divine Comedy hit the floor with a deafening boom. All eyes were on the teacher who stood like a statue, shoulders slumped, head drooping, and bangs concealing every inch of his face.
And then everyone panicked, the first act of it being Suguro prying himself from the wad at the door and shoving the members of it down before bolting out of the room, screaming, "Every man for himself!"
In a display of what might have possibly been utter madness, Rin took Izumo by the hand and rushed out the door with Shiemi following desperately in suit.
Shima just barely managed to push off the ground in a pitiful frog-hop to escape the room as an eruption of of blue fire engulfed it, consequently blasting him outward and into the wall of the hallway. But that didn't detriment his rising and bolting after the others.
It apparently wasn't enough that the classroom was a shambles for it now was burning. With his guns drawn, body enveloped in a blue fire, and tiny little Wrath demons dancing all around him, Yukio Okumura felt complete. All the stress of the day seeped slowly from every pore of his body. But it wasn't enough. No, it was certainly not enough. To release it faster, to free himself faster, he had to take his wrath out on those who comprised the source of it. And it just so happened…
Nemu Takara stepped forward.
…that one of those people stood before him.
A second eruption of blue fire engulfed the room, this time far more ferocious if the fact that the wall blew out was any indication. Maniacal laughter rang throughout the room for a moment, but it soon grew distant, as did the footsteps of the teacher it belonged to. Beneath the only standing desk of the room crouched the only remaining occupant: a nigh bald boy, his hands sheltering his head as if he were preparing for an earthquake.
There was no sign of Suguro, which made Rin wonder if there was some secret exit around here or if he was just that fast of a runner. A short-lived thought, for the moment he turned around and saw a familiar blue fire consuming the hallway like some sort of giant snake with his brother at the helm, his mind went straight back to getting the heck out of here.
"Guys~!"
The voice belonged to Shima.
"Don't leave me behind~!"
Izumo whirled her head around to watch as the pink-haired teen inevitably stumbled and disappeared into the encroaching wall of flames. Her hand over her mouth to silence the scream that wanted to escape it, she cringed and tore her gaze away from the horrible scene.
Rin had watched the scene too. He had watched and analyzed every detail of it—including the part where Yukio had momentarily slowed down upon contact with Shima. He tightened his grip on Izumo's hand, garnering her attention. He snapped his head away, looking forward once more. "Izumo!"
She tried her best not to look back, to run instead of be dragged along, and to answer him, but all three fell short. He spoke again:
"I'm sorry!"
Their hands separated, and as if that wasn't bad enough alone, he tripped her too. She hit the floor face first. Her momentary daze only hindered her panic-induced mind by a hair, but it proved to be fatal as her frantic scramble to stand bore no fruit and she inevitably met the same fate as Shima.
Rin gave a quick nod as he saw his brother slow down for a brief moment. Satisfied, he returned his attention to his front, but not before catching a glimpse of Shiemi who ran beside him. It went without saying that she saw the demon boy throw his classmate under the bus, but certainly she understood.
In fact, she understood quite well. Izumo was bad—just as bad as the terrible teacher pursuing them. What would happen if he got his hands on her again? She shuddered and nearly lost pace as she recalled being pinned to the wall. That couldn't happen again. And yet he was nearly on top of her. How had he caught up so fast? Nearly on top of her! She screamed an ungodly scream of sheer terror and reached out, "No!" and knocked the person beside her back while she continued her escape.
To Rin, the loss of his balance and consequential fall passed in slow motion. He could see the sleeves of the blonde maiden's yukata sway back-and-forth majestically with each step she took; her entire being pointed towards the obvious conclusion that what had happened was an impossibility, and yet when Rin hit the floor, he accepted his fate along with the unbelievable conclusion that Shiemi had betrayed him.
Suddenly the world went blue for the demon boy.
Yukio let his hand linger on the handle as he entered his superior's office. He let it click shut only after making eye contact with the grinning demon.
"Mister Okumura," he greeted far too politely and with a gesture towards the chair across his desk, "please, take a seat."
Yukio did just that, swallowing hard and shifting erratically in the chair.
Mephisto seemed to pay the teacher no mind, instead shifting through and scanning the stack of papers in his hands quickly. "It would seem your endeavors caused quite the stir yesterday." That joy glazed each of those words irked the teacher. "Three students severely injured, three students missing, and…" he shifted papers, "…one miraculously unscathed!" He hummed and then mumbled something under his breath about wondering how that last one happened.
Clearing his throat, Yukio insisted, "I had placed far too much faith in the abilities of my students." He pushed his glasses up. "Forgive my naivety."
Mephisto seemed unamused. "There is also one reported case of adulterated assault of a student." Yukio stiffened. Mephisto's smile challenged that of the Cheshire Cat.
"Surely such accusations are false."
"Yes, 'surely.'" The principal paused. He watched the teacher in front of him intently. His smile wavered slightly. "But perhaps," he tossed the papers behind him, the lot of them separating and fluttering about, "all of that is a misunderstanding and the accident that Mister Neuhaus inadvertently caused is to blame for everything. Certainly that can be the case if such a task as the one I have here be completed." Yukio stiffened once more, and once more Mephisto's smile wavered upon no other development. "It is required that the students of your class learn a lesson unimaginably important to exorcists. If you volunteer for the assignment, then Mister Neuhaus will be placed on suspension for causing so much harm to your beloved students." Mephisto looked away as if suddenly disinterested. "All you have to do is teach them the Seven Heavenly—"
The sound of a chair screeching caught the principal's attention. Yukio stood across from him like a statue, his glasses catching a glare in both lenses. "I respectfully decline." He removed his guns from their holsters, emptied the cartridges, and placed both of them and their ammo atop the desk. He proceeded to take his leave.
When the door clicked shut, Mephisto rested his head on his fist and blew into his bangs. "How boring."
A.N. So, how many of you saw this coming? Surely the idea of Yukio snapping popped into your minds while reading all the previous chapters. His revenge was short and sweet, and I'm pretty certain he'd reckon it was darn well worth it!
That wraps it up for this story. I'm absolutely ecstatic by the number of people who read, laughed, and enjoyed it. Though it took a year to finish due to these last few chapters having slow releases, I truly did have fun writing this. As I said in the opening Author's Notes of the first chapter, this story brought me back to my writing roots. Nearly a decade ago I wrote a crazy humor story on this website; a comparison of the two really shows how far I've come.
Well, I won't ramble any longer. Again, thanks to all those who dropped in for a read. Take care!