Disclaimer: You guys know the drill.
A/N: Hello all, if you've been checking my bio often you'll have known that I've been swamped with work for university and exam prep. But I'm here now so all is well. I try to update my profile once a week so if you're interested on how I'm progressing with each chapter, go check it out.
Also! I hate fanfic author's that always say "review if you want an update", but I refuse to do that. Reviews are great because it's a way for the author to engage with the readers and see if we're doing something right/wrong/etc. And so while I was a little saddened that only one person reviewed the last chapter (thank you, ImagineStories!), I've been blown away by how many of you guys have followed this story. I think we're at just over 100 follows now, so thank you so much. It means a lot!
I think I could cry from happiness. Just kidding. I'm a manly-man.
Instead, I'll just update now instead of in a few more days.
Since it's been a while, I've also included the last few lines of the previous chapter to hopefully prompt your memory as to what's happening. If you still can't remember, maybe take a glance back at chapter 6 :)
Chapter 7: Perdurable
"Well, isn't this just precious," drawled a velvet-y voice behind us. A voice that I recognised and sent a shock of cold shooting down my spine.
I turned slowly, hesitatingly. That voice, those kidnappings and abductions, they triggered the realisation that I'd been struggling to make earlier. And as I turned I begged that it wasn't him, that I hadn't come to his notice and drawn his attention.
But as luck would have it, I was wrong.
The third Sannin had arrived.
"Orochimaru," the Hokage greeted evenly.
"Sensei." Orochimaru's thin lips twisted into a smirk. "And Tsunade and Jiraiya too. My, my, and both the Hatake's, isn't this just the exclusive party."
"What are you-? What is he doing here?!" Papa gritted out from between his clenched teeth.
I shuddered as Orochimaru's gaze landed on me. I could feel him weighing me up, assessing my strength and potential in a split second. I wondered what he made of me? Not that it mattered, really. Orochimaru was a collector of jutsu, with a special interest in kekkai genkai. And here I was, a kekkai genkai-user who had fallen right into his scaly lap.
This was bad. Really bad.
"My, my," he remarked in a smooth, smug tone. "What a pretty thing."
I couldn't suppress a shudder at the sound of his slick voice. I had always been a little muddled when it came to the chronology of Orochimaru's horrible deeds and defection from Konoha, from my memory none of them had been explicitly stated in the anime or manga. He still wore the leaf insignia on his hitai-ate, which at least answered one of my questions. He hadn't defected yet.
Perhaps he would know something about reincarnation…? A small voice asked in the back of my head. If anyone would know anything about any jutsu pertaining to immortality and being reborn with your previous incarnations' memories then it would be him.
But was he an ally? No. Could I trust him? Hell no. Orochimaru was a wildcard, his obsessive drive and thirst for knowledge could answer some of my questions, but could just as likely land my limbs in various test tubes for him to study. As if I needed to draw anymore of his attention to myself.
Definitely not worth it.
"Orochimaru-sama," Mama remarked in surprise, taking a step back. "What are you doing here?"
I had a feeling that everyone already knew though. I did.
The Third shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "We needed a proficient Seal Master and Orochimaru has kindly offered—"
"—Him?" Papa exclaimed. Orochimaru's eyes narrowed and Papa quickly backtracked. "I meant no offense, Orochimaru. I had just assumed that it would be Kushina-san. Fūinjutsu was her family's specialty, after all." I noted the lack of deference and respect he gave to Orochimaru, it was like he wanted to snub the Sannin. I couldn't fathom why. Perhaps they had a history. Nonetheless, I could only hope that Orochimaru wouldn't hold it against us. Against me.
But who was I kidding?
"It's true that Kushina-san would have been first choice. But she's out on a mission in Lightning Country currently, and isn't expected back for a few weeks." The Hokage explained tiredly. "Since this was a time-sensitive issue, I called the next best."
"Thank you, sensei," Orochimaru grinned lasciviously at the praise, licking his lips as if having eaten something tasty. "The Seal may require renewing and I'm interested in how it will affect the girls' body and abilities. I have the most free time out of Tsunade, Jiraiya and myself, to look after the girl's Seal."
"Then why are—?" Mama began.
"'Why are Jiraiya and I here?'" Tsunade cut in, folding her arms. "I've never seen this Sealing jutsu done before. A student's job is never finished, I suppose." She added.
"Speak for yourself," Jiraiya muttered, earning him a fist to the ribs. He sank to his knees slowly, clutching at his stomach. "Why?" he wheezed. "Why?"
Everyone ignored him.
It was then that I noticed the two concentric circles drawn onto a cleared portion of the Hokage's floor, numerous kunai were embedded point-downwards along the circumference of each circle at regular intervals, and a number of characters – written in blood – radiated out from the dead centre. This was some powerful fūinjutsu – even I could ascertain that much.
It was unknown to me who had drawn the ritualistic Seals on the floor and who or what's blood was being used to fuel the Seal. No one told me and I didn't ask.
Orochimaru moved forward, circling around me until he stopped before us, studying the Seal that Tsunade had placed on my forehead earlier that day. A long, pale finger stretched out and brushed against my forehead, and the feel of his chakra on me made me flinch.
"Hmm…" Orochimaru intoned quietly, his eyes staring at the Seal rather than me, which was a relief. He turned to Tsunade. "Tsunade, you'll have to undo the Seal on her. She won't survive the Sealing otherwise."
That startled me. "W-what?"
Mama started. "I thought this was supposed to be a safe and harmless procedure!"
"The Seal I placed on your daughter… isn't entirely stable." Tsunade began, tentative. "Ayaka's own chakra is involuntarily being redirected to stabilise the Seal. Placing another Seal on top of the one I put on her could drain her reserves completely and put a strain on her body, likely to cause cardiac arrest."
I hadn't noticed before, but she was right. Most of my chakra was gone; it was odd. It didn't feel as though my chakra reserves were empty but like my reserves had shrunk to a quarter of its previous volume. The only logical explanation – prompted by Tsunade's own – was that the Seal had cordoned off most of my chakra to feed itself. I wondered if the Seal would just fail or start eating at the chakra I had access to if it used up the reserve of chakra it was feeding off.
Tsunade looked at me suddenly, as though she were afraid I was going to have a break down right there and then. "But it needn't come to that if we undo my Seal first."
She called it well. To say that I was feeling overwhelmed would be an understatement. At this point, I was ready to take my chances with the hands. I almost said as much. Almost.
I mentally prepared myself and mustered my bravo.
"Okay…" I interrupted hesitantly. The adults – and Kakashi – turned to look at me, I could fee the weight of their gazes on me and I swallowed audibly. "Please. Just do it."
"She's right, let's not waste more time," the Hokage concurred and I flushed slightly, not sure whether to feel ashamed by my impatience or pleased that he shared it. "Tsunade, if you please."
"Of course, Sensei. Come here please, Ayaka-chan," Tsunade said, ushering me into the centre of the two circles of ink and kunai.
A sudden realisation struck me.
"If… If you take away the Seal then… the hands will come back, won't they?" I could practically feel my heart having palpitations.
"The… hands?" Tsunade asked slowly, clarifying that she had heard correctly. My stomach was shifting uncomfortably in my belly, and I felt a pang of dread. "You mean your ability, correct?"
"But they feel like hands," I repeated.
"Ayaka-chan," the Hokage said gruffly. I looked to him. "Don't be scared, girl. Everyone here, bar one, is above the rank of jōnin. We can handle ourselves – and we can handle you."
I nodded. He was right, of course. I shouldn't doubt these people's abilities to protect themselves and each other – it was an insult to their abilities.
"You may want to kneel down," Tsunade said and I went down to my knees. Two of her fingers were alight with small blue flames of chakra – her index and middle finger. Tsunade held her lit fingers above my head, then jabbed her fingertips sharply into the centre of my forehead. "Two Pronged Seal: Release!"
A peculiar tingling sensation ran down my spine and I felt… the same really. Perhaps it hadn't worked. I checked my chakra reserves and found that they remained the same. Small, pitiful, and—
Chakra flooded my system in a sudden pent-up surge, and I stared, slack-jawed, off into the distance as the chakra roiled around within me. More and more seemed to be coming from behind the Seal and I couldn't stem the flow – couldn't halt the torrent from washing me away.
They rose, like great snakes, from my chakra reserves, flexing and stretching. A small sound of distress escaped my lips before I could stop it.
The hands.
Swollen and strong from where they had been marinating in my chakra since Tsunade's Seal had been placed on me, they were unlike any of the others I had encountered.
They were cleverer than before.
They didn't hesitate, but nor did they scramble over each other to escape my skin. They moved in unanimous synchronicity – as one entity. They moved together, with the strength of a battering ram, circling at first – gaining momentum along my chakra pathways.
This feeling… wonderful…
Squeezing my eyes shut and slamming my hands over my ears, I braced my self for their impact and the pain I would feel by trying to keep them off. But I would do this – for Kurenai. For myself. I would do better than last time. I had to.
But the hands had grown clever too. And I needn't have bothered bracing myself for their broken nails to scratch for release through my eyes and ears. They circled around within me, becoming denser and stronger and surer. They had a purpose, and they were all working towards it.
Unusually aware of my chakra pathways and the hands' movements, I noticed what was about to happen only a split second before it actually did.
The hands burst from the tenketsu based in my forehead in a fury, suddenly turning wild. They were insubstantial, however, and invisible. I couldn't even see them, but I could feel them – no, more than that, I was a part of them.
The hands pulled me along behind them as they stretched for the Hokage's mind and I struggled pull myself back, to fight the urge to have just a sneak peak within such a powerful man's head. To make him bow and scrape the floor below me. To control him and mastermind Konohagakure's future…
"Evil Sealing Method!" A smooth, cold hand pressed down upon the nape of my neck.
I felt the effects of the jutsu immediately. Sharp tingling sensations radiated out from the nape of my neck and I knew what they brought. Lines and lines of characters of Sealing script spread out over my body, down my arms, over my face, down my legs. The black script ran amuck. I could feel it.
I snapped back into my own head, feeling slightly disorientated.
I could only imagine what I looked, and it wasn't pretty. Red eyes, swept-wild black hair, black tattoo-like markings covering skin and hands formed of chakra stretching from my back. I must look demonic – monstrous.
Shut up! I snapped. No one cares what you look like!
Orochimaru's hand – for it could only be him that could make my skin crawl so – left my neck. I half-expected the Seal to falter without his touch, but it remained steady, the Sealing script winding itself around my body start to affect the hands' movements, slowing them, calming them. And for the first time since this Sealing had begun, I felt like I had some semblance of control over what was happening and I felt a calm assuredness fall over me at the thought.
I felt collected and capable, as if a cloud had been lifted and I could see with perfect clarity. It was amazing the amount of fear and indecision and regret I had been carrying around, and I felt all that much lighter without it – like I could just float away.
Hesitantly, dreading the whiplash my actions might cause, I began to tug my awareness of the hands back into myself. At first, there was no discernable difference but as I pulled harder, willing the hands to obey with all my self they began to retract, dissipating into my skin like a fine mist into air. The hands moved backwards slowly, not cowed but obedient rather.
The Seal continued its work, drawing its strength from my determination and pulling the hands to a point at the nape of my neck – the spot where Orochimaru had touched to initiate the jutsu. The hands – now all contained – stirred uneasily at the back of my head but I willed them to stay down and they stilled submissively within the confines of the Seal.
And I was left unsteady in the wake of the sudden… absence.
The hands had obeyed. I trembled in wonder, struggling to wrap my head around the very notion. Although it had been with obvious reluctance they had still obeyed. My eyes began to burn slightly. Maybe there was hope for me after all.
A notion struck me.
Maybe I had been able to control them all along and it had been only me interfering with my control over my ability. I had issues; I knew that for sure. Inside my head, there was a constant struggle to retain who I had been – Chelsea, the PhD student from Earth – against the person I was becoming. Even now, I didn't know how to be my true self – whoever or whatever that true self was. But maybe I didn't have to choose one or the other, perhaps I just needed to accept that Chelsea didn't have to die so that Ayaka could live.
Perhaps I had been trying to tell myself that when I'd had that weird dream about Chelsea's life while I had been unconscious after messing with Kurenai's head.
What was in a name, anyway? I was who I was. And if I was two girls, each from two different worlds, then so be it. Surely I could handle that, so long as it didn't lead to a multiple personality disorder. I had read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and I didn't particularly want to wander into that horror novel. My life was on the rocks as it was.
"Ayaka!" Mama said, breaking me out of my reverie. She was kneeling before me and had obviously been trying to get my attention for some time.
I blinked owlishly and looked around.
Papa was standing behind Mama, scanning me for any obvious injuries. Mama had always said that it was an automatic reflex on his part, looking out for his teammates and loved ones before they could succumb to an injury. Shinobi were notorious for not admitting to injury, Mama had tried to explain it to me that they believed it to be sign of weakness, but I couldn't think of it being anything other than stupid and childish.
Sakumo and Kakashi stood against the far wall of the room, exchanging hushed words. I wasn't sure what they were saying but I wondered if it was a hushed argument. I hoped it wasn't about me.
Seeing that Jiraiya and the Hokage were locked in conversation too, I turned further and found Orochimaru leaning against the wall scrutinising me with a small smile that seemed more and more predatory the longer I looked at it. Under his cold and dissecting gaze, I shuddered and his smile widened.
Hearing a sound, I turned. Tsunade had stepped forward, pressing a hand of green healing chakra to my head to relieve a throbbing that I hadn't noticed was there until it was gone.
"Th-thank you, Tsunade-sama." I gave her a small, tired smile before yawning widely. Even though it seemed like years had passed since I had woken up in the hospital – since I had erased my sister from my life – it had really only been a few hours. It was the middle of the night; I had just undergone what some might classify as a traumatic experience and I needed my beauty sleep if I was going to face the world again tomorrow.
"You should be fine come morning, make sure you stay hydrated so the headache lessens," Tsunade said. "How does your chakra feel?"
I checked my reserves. "Fine," I admitted happily. "Like normal. Does this mean I can go back to the Academy tomorrow?"
Tsunade and my parents chuckled lightly. "I don't see why not," Tsunade replied. "So long as your parents are okay with it."
I looked up at Mama and Papa with the biggest puppy-dog eyes I could muster. "Please…?"
"Sure," Mama replied, quickly engulfing me in a hug. I could see Papa over her shoulder, shaking his head in wry amusement.
The Hokage called our attention back to him a moment later and enquired about the incident that had happened with Kurenai. Papa stepped forward to answer but Sarutobi-sama waved him down and gestured to me with a kindly smile.
With trepidation, I wriggled free of Mama's embrace and turned to face the Hokage. He wanted to know about what I had done to Kurenai? There was just so much that had happened that I didn't know what in particular he wanted to hear.
"A-ano… Hokage-sama… I don't know where to start…" I confessed, embarrassed.
"Start at the beginning, Ayaka-chan. I would like to know everything that occurred from your perspective."
Everyone was watching me now. I had told Mama and Papa but this was going to be new knowledge to everyone else in the room. Sakumo and Kakashi moved closer, and Sakumo gave me encouraging smile but I still had reservations about sharing everything. How could I not? Orochimaru was standing right there, listening to me explain how I was an ideal candidate for experimentation. I bet he couldn't wait to open up my insides to see what made me tick.
I couldn't help the shudder that rolled through me.
But the Hokage was here, and I couldn't very well lie and say I had nothing to do with it – it was way too late for that.
So I did as the Hokage asked – I started at the beginning, hoping that he'd be interested enough in me to keep me safe from Orochimaru. I started with the spar between Kurenai and myself, then tried to skim over the part where the hands appeared and messed up Kurenai's head to when I woke up in hospital and found that Kurenai didn't recognise me. But the Hokage wouldn't have it.
"The… hands, just appeared? Out of nowhere?" He asked, wanting specifics.
Oh dear, how to explain this… "N-no, not exactly." I started, then frowned, thinking. How could I explain this? "Kurenai was… beating me, I mean, it's not like I wanted to hurt her. I didn't, I swear! It really was an accident! But—but—!" I was working myself up into a frenzy and I knew it.
"But you just wanted to win," the Hokage guessed with a slightly amused expression. "I understand. You're not in trouble."
I wasn't? They don't think I'm some crazed child with dangerous powers? Well that was a relief.
The Hokage asked me a few more questions about the hands, seeming to focus on the aspect that I had entered Kurenai's mind with little to no difficulty. He seemed to be bemused by the thought, asking if I had somehow meant to wipe myself from Kurenai's mind. I hadn't.
The questions continued, until I gave a yawn so wide that the Hokage seemed to think better than to keep pressing me at this hour of the night.
"Alright, thank you Ayaka-chan." He said, standing up and making his way around his desk towards me. He ruffled my hair affectionately. "I appreciate your honesty tonight. I'll be watching your progress in the future closely, so be sure to make your parents proud!"
"Y-yessir!" I replied giddily, blushing slightly at his praise. I was relieved too, hopefully that would serve as a message to Orochimaru that I was out-of-bounds for his personal experimentations.
We left the Hokage's office soon after that, the Sannin staying behind to no doubt discuss what had transpired tonight. I wished I could say that I cared enough to wonder what they were saying, but I was so tired that all I wanted to do was sleep.
We split up from the Hatake's as we made our respective ways home. I realised when we were almost at home that my parents hadn't checked me out of the hospital. Perhaps I should have said something but didn't want risk them changing directions and taking me back to spend the night at the hospital.
Tonight I would sleep in my own bed.
I could deal with everything else tomorrow.
"Where the hell have you been!?" Anko grumbled the next morning as she stomped up to my desk. Takahata-sensei had yet to arrive, which wasn't unusual for our reluctant sensei. I wondered if he'd have a hangover today too, it wouldn't be the first time he had turned up to class late after a big night out. I, when I was Chelsea, had never been much of a drinker – too much of a lightweight. Shame.
"I've been sick," I replied, fidgeting my hands nervously beneath the desk. Would she pick up on my lie? Mama and Papa had said to just act like things were normal, but they weren't and never would be.
I shook my head as if to clear my thoughts. I was being too depressed – too angst-ridden. If there were anything I should've learned to take home from the Sealing last night it should be to let bygones be bygones and move on. Anko was already eyeing my suspiciously – I wasn't acting like my usual self, and she could tell.
"Aw, Anko-chan," I began playfully, knowing she hated being referred to as –chan. I gave her a sly smile. "Did you miss me?"
That seemed to throw her, and she visibly scrambled to reply. "D-don't be ridiculous! You were only gone for, like, two days. But it meant I had to hang out with those losers instead." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder as if pointing at someone.
I peered around her, squinting. "Who?"
"Ah-ha! Found it!" A hand appeared from behind a desk, holding up a small wrapped onigiri as if it were a prized treasure.
Oh no.
"I've been looking for ages! Izumo! I found it!" Kotetsu Hagane climbed up from behind the desk, as another boy waddled into class. Izumo Kamizuki was a lot fatter as a kid than he had been in the anime as an adult and I remembered that I'd always thought him to be relatively intelligent. Instead, he just liked to eat.
Clutching a bag of flavoured chips to his chest, he waddled over to Kotetsu, not noticing Anko and I. "Is that the onigiri you hid last week?"
"Yup! Free lunch for me today! Woo~" Kotetsu cheered.
"You're going to share right?"
"Of course!" The two boys whooped and hi-fived each other.
"I think I'm going to vomit," I whispered to Anko.
"Two days," she whispered back. "Two days of this."
I stood and patted Anko on the back consolingly. Two days? Really? It took two days of searching to find out the onigiri was under his seat?
I wrinkled my nose. "Boys are gross." Then thought of Sakumo-sama, and quickly amended, "Well, most boys anyway."
"You're crazy! All boys are gross!"
"Oh! Yūhi-chan is back!" Izumo said loudly.
I winced and turned my back to them stiffly, pretending that I hadn't heard him. Anko followed suit.
"Ayaka-chan! Hey!" Kotetsu called.
"Good morning, Yūhi-chan!"
"Hey! Ayaka-chan!"
"Yūhi-chan!"
"Ayaka-chan! Helloooo?"
"Yūhi-chan! Turn around!"
Go away, go away, go away…
"Ayaka-cha-!" There was a loud crashing sound as one of the boys knocked over what sounded like several desks and chairs.
I risked a glance over my shoulder to see both boys making their way towards us. Izumo waddling precariously and Kotetsu picking himself up out from beneath a heap of desks, handling the onigiri between his two bare hands.
The two boys were as thick as thieves now just as much as they would be in the future, and Anko and I often interacted with them. You might even say we were friends, if begrudgingly. But I knew who they would become later on, and so where none of the others would give them the time of day, I listened. I smiled and laughed at their lame jokes. They were both oddballs, but I couldn't lie that I liked both of them.
Well, to a certain line. When it came to their eating and hoarding tendencies, that's where I drew the line.
But it wasn't unusual for our civilian-born classmates to gravitate towards Anko and me once they found out that neither of us were from clans. Which was weird, really. It wasn't like it was unusual to have shinobi parents and not be from a clan. And even though I wasn't from a shinobi clan, I was still raised in the same manner as my clan-born classmates – training from an early age, lessons in chakra control, instruction on family jutsu techniques… the list goes on.
"What should we do?" I whispered, and then glanced behind us again. "Do you think we could make a break for the door?"
Anko shook her head. "We wouldn't make it. The windows?"
I gave her a searching, incredulous look. "You want to jump out the window?"
"It could be worse."
"Worse than a three-story fall?"
Anko scrunched her face up in thought. "Maybe not." She acquiesced. "We could try fighting them off?"
"Fighting them?"
"Yeah, I've got some paperbombs in my bag…" Anko gave me a meaningful look and a slightly crazed grin.
Why on earth would she have…? Oh right, this was Anko.
"You want to explode two of our fellow classmates?" I asked, stunned. "In which world could that ever be a good idea?"
Thoughtful, Anko nodded. "You're right. Too messy."
"Ayaka-chan! Good morning!" They were right behind me and I shuddered. If they offered me a piece of that onigiri, I was going to barf. Violently.
"Good morning, Kamizuki-san! Hagane-kun!" I greeted with forced cheer, trying not to eyeball the dusty onigiri in Kotetsu's hand. "How are you both?"
"Ayaka," Kotetsu asserted with a cocky smile. "Call me Kotetsu. We're familiar enough with each other."
Noooooo, we weren't.
"I don't think-"
"Call me Izumo, too!" Izumo said excitedly, then faltered. "That's… that's okay, isn't it?" He looked at me with wide, doe-like eyes and I felt my resolve crumble a little bit.
Distractedly, I muttered an eloquent "uh, I guess," before Anko stepped in between us.
"Alright, thanks for the chat. Oh wow! Look over there! Uh… Hinito-san dropped his, uh, bento box," Anko said to the two boys, whose expression perked up at the sound of the bento box.
"Where?!" They both exclaimed, eerily in sync.
Anko pointed. "Over there. It might be hidden somewhere so you'll have to look pretty hard to-"
They were both already gone.
"A bento box?" I asked.
"That bento box story will keep them busy for weeks!" Anko cackled, sitting down in her seat beside my own desk. I sat down also. "It was me who told them the story about the onigiri to begin with, I ended up just buying the onigiri and hiding it under Hagane's seat."
I frowned. "Anko. That's pretty mean."
"Pfft. Who cares?" Anko replied, blithely. "And what the hell were you doing? Are you trying to encourage them?"
"What do you mean?"
"Oh please, they both practically drool all over you when you walk into a room." Anko said, giving me a dry look. "Oh, Ayaka-chan you're sooooo pretty! Oh, Yūhi-chan, you're sooooo nice to me! Ooooh, Ayaka-chan, thank you for letting me wipe your ass. It's disgusting."
"Hey! Not nice!" I said, punching her in the arm to hide the fact I was struggling to contain my smile. "I'm just nice to them, that's all. No one else gives them the time of day."
"Of course no one gives them the time of day! They're both losers!" Anko picked up her backpack and dumped its contents onto her desk, sending paraphernalia skittering in all directions. "They probably won't even make it through the year, let alone graduate."
Something about her flippant disregard – her condescension – pissed me off. "They aren't losers. And I believe that they will become good shinobi!" I said angrily, starting feel my eyes water.
Though having knowledge of future events was the only thing that made me believe in them becoming shinobi. Generally, they were both at the bottom tier of the class – if not dead last. Kotetsu was notoriously lazy, almost comparable to a Nara but without the keen intellect. And Izumo, while not lazy, tended to give his all at everything and wore his heart on his sleeve too much, often becoming discouraged at not being able to keep up with his classmates. That and the fact that he was a little… okay, maybe more than a little, fat.
Not that I judged. The Akimichi clan were known for being chubby, but they held claim to jutsu that made it necessary, even preferable, to be overweight rather than thin.
Anko gave me a strange look. "Okay, okay. We'll just have to agree to disagree… Are you crying?"
"No!" I wiped at my eyes with the palm of my hands. "I'm angry. When I'm angry my eyes tear up."
"Uh-huh."
"It's true!"
"Okay, okay. Sheesh. Don't get your knickers in a twist."
"My knickers are not in a twist!"
The classroom door opened and Takahata-sensei entered, holding a bottle of water in one hand and a folder in his other. We all made to stand up at his arrival.
"Alright you little shitfaces!" Shitfaces? That was a new one. "Sit the fuck down. I don't wanna hear shit from you brats, I've got a thumping headache and I'm not in the mood to deal with your shit."
Slowly, we sat down. Students hurrying to their seats while Takahata-sensei squinted around at the class as if the room were too bright and our presence in the classroom an annoyance. Yep, he was definitely hungover.
"Yūhi." Takahata-sensei said, squinting at me closely.
I jumped to my feet abruptly. "H-hai!"
"Finally decided to re-join us in class today? Good. Sit down. Mitarashi, stop grinning like a damn fool or I'll bring forward next week's test to tomorrow and use you as kunai practice." A sudden hush fell over the class at the threat. "Okay, we'll begin with where we left yesterday – Oh for fuck's sake, Kamizuki, do you ever stop eating?"
A/N: Takahata-sensei's back! Woo~ He's a lot of fun to write. He'd pretty much be me if I drank more and became a primary school teacher. Do you guys like him? I try not to throw too many OCs at you guys, but there's going to be a few more in the future. Sorry :/
What did you think of the chapter? Let me know :)
Interesting but useless information about the author and other stuff:
It is possible to win Monopoly in 21 seconds.
The majority of people who are reading this fanfiction story are in the USA (that's what my traffic stats say anyways)
On April 1, 2007, Google sent an email to its employees warning that a python was loose in its New York office. It was not a joke.
J. K. Rowling makes about $8 USD every second
A vegan couple's newborn baby died after they only fed it soymilk and apple juice. They are currently serving life in prison.
The 2022 World Cup (soccer) final will be played in Lusail, Qatar, a city that does not exist yet.