What is it that drives the world forward?
Is it greed? Faith? Power? Ambition?
All of these are - in some manner - correct, of course.
To classify the reason behind progression as a singular motivation is the peak example of naivety, for a lone mind cannot discern the multitudes of intricate forces working in tandem to advance the future.
Certainly, there is no concrete method that can be applied to realize the convoluted movement of progress. Perhaps an universal truth can be visualized in distant dreams not yet had, but as of the present, it will remain nothing more than a jumble of philosophical thought.
But that's getting off-topic.
Nevertheless, while the response to the question may never be uniform, there is one factor that it all can trace back to. A constant within the equation of progression, the common undeniable denominator.
It's the greatest desire held by all, the key to becoming an elite amongst the sea of seven billion bodies, truthfully there is only one answer.
Talent.
One's natural ability, the inherent aptitude to become something great. As the condition to which a person can naturally shape and influence the very world around them, it's not far-fetched to think of talents as nothing short of fantastic.
World-changing developments, ground-shaking discoveries, miracles bordering impossibility. Of the people behind each and every event, talent is the complex web that ties it all together.
And from that, a school - a system - had been established to develop such skills. The education course for the greatest of greats, the prestigious learning environment for the pinnacle of prodigies.
Kunugigaoka Academy.
One of the prestigious schools in Japan, comparable to the likes of Advanced Nurturing High School, Kibougamine Academy, and Shuchiin Academy, but unlike none of them, Kunugigaoka had been in existence for a relatively short time.
The school's system involved grouping students with similar grades to facilitate the teachers' work. From Class A, where the gifted students took their classes, to Class E, where the worst of the worst gathered.
As a form of motivation, Gakuhou Asano, the Principal of the academy, had established a rule that every student and teacher at Kunugigaoka must follow: "Disparage anyone in Class E."
This way, students would do everything possible to avoid entering that class, ensuring that the school's overall average remained quite high.
To walk through and stay at the main campus of this academy has become the fervorous dream of countless many.
If only...
To Nagisa Shiota, the sight of the main campus was nothing more than a speck in the distance, something that could be barely seen if you were to squint hard enough.
Hidden away and placed on top of the mountain next to the main campus - almost as if ashamed to be seen - there lies a second campus - one that is very old and degraded, and was built a very long time ago.
Forty students of Class E, or in Nagisa's school year, 25 students, were now climbing up the mountain in the early hours. Unlike those of the main campus, students of Class E don't have the luxury of having good equipment or being treated as normal students at all. On the contrary, it is much worse than ever.
And of course, being in the Class E meant that bullying was inevitable.
Anyone placed in there, will be treated as nothing more than trash, losers, defects, scum, and many things worse by students and teachers alike. Whether you have bad grades, bad academics, bad reputation, bad personality, or having violated school rules, you will be placed into Class E eventually.
And the only way to get back to the main campus is by having some kind of crazy-good grades. And to these students, grades meant everything. It had to be, for the consequences were dire. Every credit earned and point lost could make the difference between success and failure.
Staying in the good graces of academic grades or suffering a bad school life in Class E, those were the only options.
In the case of Nagisa Shiota, he was dropped into Class E due to his bad academics and bad grades.
When the news came to him that he would go to Class E, his classmates and homeroom teacher suddenly abandoned and betrayed him as if nothing had happened. And throughout the rest of his second year and part of the third, he suffered from the bullying of those who were once his classmates.
Although that wasn't the worst thing that happened in his life.
Once before, there was a time he was abused by none other than his crazy, psychotic mother, which led to a moment when his parents had a fight. And when the abuse escalated to a point where his mother did something too psychotic to Nagisa, that action caused her to be arrested and Nagisa had to live with his father.
In conclusion, the life of Nagisa Shiota was really unfortunate and painful.
All he wanted in his entire life was to become someone special, someone of actual worth.
However, how could he do so when he has nothing noteworthy to show? How can he join the ranks of the elites when he himself was born as nobody special? What can a talentless loser offer to prove that he is more than nothing?
An elite person has talent.
A person with talent is somebody.
A somebody is someone with worth.
On the contrary, it's the complete opposite for Nagisa Shiota.
... Nagisa has no talent.
... Nagisa is a nobody.
... Nagisa has no worth.
Such were the crushing realizations that broke his hopes and dreams. It was then for the first time that Nagisa came to understand his own incapabilities, of how he is nothing when compared to greatness of those who are the elites.
Depression, despair, all had consumed him, as well as his classmates in Class E.
He was lost, the one gilding light in life had been taken away, and he was told that he was never meant to bask in that light in the first place. During that delicate period of his life, Nagisa had no idea of what to do with himself.
Everything he sought and dedicated himself to had been but a pointless lie that he clung to.
And then, when he was dropped into Class E, he became discouraged and wanted to give up.
Because for him, as well as for each and every student of Class E, there was no future, no talent, and no hope.
That was, until the light returned, in the form of a yellow octopus.
.
This class is really disturbing.
On a green hill, there is a very large old wooden house, where Class 3-E would study. Around it, birds began to sing melodies to welcome the new day. But unlike the peaceful and joyful atmosphere outside, inside the old campus is so quiet that you can clearly hear the heartbeats of the students inside.
Inside, the students were waiting for something... Or someone.
Out there, something seemed to arrive before it began to move inward, curiously, its footsteps sounded like a snail was slithering.
RENG! RENG!
After the school bell rang, the door to classroom 3-E was immediately pushed open. The students inside were tensely waiting for someone to open the door and enter.
When the door creaked open, a thin roll book was placed on the desk by a yellow tentacle.
"Okay, students..." The male voice was bright.
A yellow creature that resembled a yellow octopus entered. The creature wore a traditional but slightly theatrical teaching robe with a tiny mortarboard hat on his massive moon-shaped head. His face was set in a wide smiley-faced grin.
Anyone who looks at this creature will immediately know that. Surely they will cry and run away immediately, telling everyone that this wasn't human.
But the students were not surprised at all and just stared at it quietly as the creature standing in front of the students was their homeroom teacher.
The one and only, Koro-sensei.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Koro-Sensei exclaimed "Class monitor, if you would do the honors."
"Right. Ready!" Nagisa Shiota stood up abruptly.
The whole class stood as one, brandishing their guns.
Koro-Sensei looked undisturbed as the class fixed their gazes on him.
"Aim!" Nagisa's voice rang out.
Their teacher didn't move a muscle.
Nagisa's eyes narrowed "Fire!"
A hellfire of bullets sprayed out.
The rain of bullets seemed to sow for a second before Koro-Sensei moved in a flash, his form a blur as he dodged the bullets.
Not a single bullet hit the octopus at all.
And it looked like they were seeing triple with the way he moved so fast.
"Well - Oh my - I'll be taking attendance, so please, fire all you like." The teacher told them calmly "Yuuma Isogai!"
"Here." Isogai replied, but his voice was slightly drowned out by the gunfire.
"My apologies. I need you to speak louder since I can't hear well because of the gunshots."
"Here!" Isogai shouted irritably.
Koro-Sensei continued dodging the bullets at his Mach 20 speed while taking attendance.
While shooting, Nagisa was having thoughts and monologues in his mind.
To be honest, having to kill a giant, three meter tall yellow octopus was not what Nagisa had in mind when there was someone replacing Yukimura-sensei as their main teacher.
Nor was he informed of the intricacies of the school's social ladder.
Figures they'd stuff the halfie into the bottom of the barrel.
He wasn't the only one in this class.
His friend Rio Nakamura was there too, as she was excited that Nagisa was joining, having kept in touch with him since that time he ran into her while getting groceries. And that was well over a year ago, when he was in Class 2-D and she was in Class 2-B.
There was also Karma Akabane too, the man who always ended up in trouble, but he was always kind to Nagisa, or rather, how kind Karma Akabane can be to Nagisa Shiota. But at this moment, Karma wasn't here due to his suspension, and Nagisa hoped that he would return as soon as possible.
If only Karma could see Nagisa and Rio now, trying to assassinate their teacher.
Angling his gun, Nagisa closed one eye and titled his head. The abomination of a creature was moving in front of them, seemingly standing still.
They all knew better, however. Their newfound teacher was moving so fast that he seemed to be standing.
Keeping the target in his line of sight, Nagisa blurred his vision briefly.
The movements slowed down, the images flitting over as if he's looking through an animation storyboard.
He took a calming breath.
Slower. He needs it slower.
The movements went slower. The blue-haired boy has a two second window, if he's going to do it right.
His target is largely unknown, for now. He'll do more intel gathering later.
He has time, and he needs his curiosity satisfied.
That is, if these so-called Anti-Sensei bullets do any damage at all.
The octopus was still doing attendance, completely unaware of the stunt the bluenette is about to pull.
The octopus still moved, calling out names and going down the list.
He's last. They won't reach him until the very end.
That's how it's always been to Nagisa Shiota.
A loner.
A nobody.
An unknown person.
A ghost, or more specifically, an invisible ghost.
But being invisible has its perks.
Among the noise of gunfire, loud bangs resonating around the room, no one noticed another in its mist.
Their movements slowed, and Nagisa's eyes glinted, pulling the trigger.
His aim seemingly went nowhere.
And he hoped that he would shoot Koro-sensei, or at least one of his tentacles, successfully.
"Nagisa Shiota!"
BANG!
SPLOSH!
And look at it, it seemed like Lady Luck was on Nagisa's side, as he managed to successfully shoot one of Koro-sensei's tentacles.
The rest of his classmates all stared in shock at the wriggling tentacle, their teacher going from his normally bright yellow complexion to a decidedly much paler one.
Gray.
Huh. Color equals emotion, eh?
Anyhow, the yellow tentacle is still thrashing on the ground, its stem very clearly not connected to its main body. Right after that, another tentacle grew back, looking no different from the original.
Huh, interesting...
Nagisa met Koro-sensei's eye head on, firing off another round.
It didn't hit this time, as his luck ran out.
That's okay, Nagisa didn't expect it to.
He placed his gun down, disassembling it like how Karasuma showed them.
Yellow octopus or not, he's just trying to survive.
They all are.
And they're going to, unless they can't kill this thing by March.
"Here, sensei."
08/12/2024