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"So I’m doomed to die a horrible death. So what? It’s not like I don’t have it coming." The man smirks, clever eyes hiding behind wavy locks.
The woman opposite him protests. "You can’t give up without trying! There has to be a way to save—"
"That said," he interjects, "it’d be a shame to waste this power in the meantime." He looks at his fist, bringing it closer to his chest. Unexpectedly, kind eyes return to the woman's troubled gaze. "It’s been fun, Aguri. Goodbye."
Aguri gasps, and her eyes widen as he turns away from her.
"I think it’s about time to go," he continues. "Sooner than expected, maybe, but I know I’m more than equal to the challenge."
His body buzzes with energy. The air around him is lighter, and his clothes move as if underwater. His hair floats and swirls in waves, his focus as clear-cut as the glass that separates them. With ease, tentacles sprout from his entire body.
"I’ve been here long enough."
"No, wait!" Aguri leans closer, almost placing a hand on the wall between them. "This isn’t you! You’re not the person you were!"
He glances at her coolly. "You gonna stop me?"
"Yes!" Before the word even fully leaves her lips, it takes Aguri back. Intimidated by her own force, uncertainty fills her face. Her forehead knots in worried lines, and her jaw tenses. Even though she stares directly at him, she's hesitant about what she can do about the man in front of her.
"Oh, really?" He looks at her through half-lidded eyes. "With what?"
The man turns around to face her completely, smugness written throughout his expressions. His head tilts as he observes her features, and his voice becomes dangerously low.
"Those little arms? That stunning intellect?" His volume is intimate, like hands on cheeks, like words in a time of need. All the same, they are mocking her. They mock her in all that she is: an average woman. A teacher, at that.
His eyes narrow for a moment before placing a hand on the glass. She inhales sharply, her chest rising with fear.
"Unless your abilities surpass mine, sweetheart," he murmurs, "you don’t have a prayer of stopping me any more than you do saving me."
His hand applies pressure. Crack. The damage distorts his image, and Aguri forgets what it felt like earlier, for the same hand to cherish her cheek. A soft breeze from the air-conditioning reminds her of foolishness: how could she have ever thought of possibly entertaining his embrace, from the other side of this glass?
"Frankly, you’re not even worth the trouble of taking as a hostage."
Crack. Multiple of her faces stare back at her. She gulps.
"So unless you want a pointless death, leave. Now."
The Reaper brings her entire world to shambles, and Aguri can’t see anything beyond a broken, blank, glass wall. She holds a single hand to her chest, and swallows any remaining protests. She lingers, hoping he would take back what he said. When he doesn't, her flats tapping against tiles is the only sound in the room. She stands at the exit, cold, alone, and defeated.
"It’s Yukimura. Unlock Door 1. I need out."
The door opens, and with that, she leaves.
On the other side, the Reaper stands with his hand still on the glass. After a moment, he lets go. Turning back around, he faces the path he wants to take. He made this decision the very first moment they brought him here, strapped to that bed. From the very first time they injected him, the moment they made him their subject, he made this decision.
The Reaper had decided to leave when it was most convenient. What was more opportune than impending death? Some lovely assistant with earnest eyes wasn't enough to change that he belonged nowhere. And with his fate determined, he was obliged to at least go out on his own terms. If they thought he was intimidating as a human, how would they like him now?
"Alright, time for a test-drive. Let’s reap the fruits of torture and see what I’m capable of!"
The Reaper bends his knees, and without further consideration, shoots through the roof in a blur of white and grey tentacles.
** ** ** ** ** **
The Reaper leans over, resting on top of a hill of rubble. He almost resembles a child, the way his body curls into itself. He laughs bitterly. From a distance, he doesn't notice a certain woman crawling out from under the debris. The destruction was merciless.
"It doesn't matter. I'll die in a year either way. Whether it's here or somewhere else..."
Aguri limps closer.
"Heh," he continued, "if I take the Earth with me, so much the better."
"No, stop..." Aguri whimpers. She forces herself to keep moving. Her body feels heavy, but she doesn't stop, not until she reaches him.
Just as he prepares to leave, she wraps her arms around the Reaper's midriff. He looks back at her, his red eyes widening in surprise.
Don't leave! If you do, there's no turning back!
Aguri tightens her grip. You're.. you're better than this!
[She had seen everything, and despite it all, she was hopeful. I... I hadn't expected for her to react as she did. This was something completely new.]
The Reaper's lips part, as if to say something. Maybe to ask her why she was still there. Maybe he would've called her foolish for sticking around. Maybe he would've thanked her.
But a light flashes from somewhere nearby, and a spear pierces through Aguri.
The Reaper's eyes widen, and all he sees is the blood splattering everywhere. He should be used to it: he was born out of war. The fear clasping around his chest is unfamiliar, and the panic comes up as a desperate shout. Unlike her, who takes the impact silently, he shrieks.
"Aguri!"
Her body rolls down the debris until the Reaper catches her, kneeling down. His tentacles shake as he holds her, and Aguri shudders.
"Okay, that was really stupid. Sh-should've paid closer attention to where I was going." Her voice is faint. She's losing blood, so much blood.
His eyes search her own. "Why? Why did you...?"
"I-I had a sneaking suspicion yelling wouldn't be enough to stop you." She coughs, and the Reaper laments.
If I had been there a fraction of a second quicker, I could've saved her. If I'd thought about using these tentacles for something other than killing... Why? There was more than enough time... Why didn't I..? Why couldn't I just..? Why must it always be death and destruction? Why? Why..?
His face scrunches into a miserable expression, and his tentacles tremble more.
"Oh, God, Aguri. I've killed you..."
The young woman giggles, smiles even. "Don't be so dramatic. This wasn't your fault. It's on me. No one made me come after you."
She looks up at him, and her smile becomes lost to a more serious expression. He sees nothing but the dedication she was so open to showing. The same conviction whenever she talked about her students. "I knew the risks, accepted it, and chose my priorities. That's just how important you are to me, silly. I bet one of these days, you'll meet someone just as important to you."
He bites his lip, a burn at the back of his eyes. "There is no one as important as you. I'm sorry... You should've been the one to kill me."
Aguri gags, blood spills onto the floor next to her. "Listen... you have a year left... If you could sacrifice a little bit of your time, give the children the tools to succeed... In a way, they're like you. Wandering in the dark, waiting for someone to turn on the light. Someone who can take them as they are. Warts and all."
She grabs one of his tentacles. "Such wonderful tentacles... With hands like these.. you could reach them.."
She raises a hand to cup his cheek, smiling. Despair envelops him as he leans into her touch. It's so cold, and despite that being the only thing he knows, it's wrong. Cold hands shouldn't belong to such a warm person.
"I know it.. in my heart.."
Her hand falls and never rises again.
The tentacle-man puts her body down gently. He brushes her bangs away from her face, knowing that he'll never see those eyes open again. He notices the tie from earlier, clutching it in his hands. Glancing at her wound, he apologizes.
"I'm sorry..." He whispered.
[Then he really understood. Her many faults had been part of her charm.]
One cluster of tentacles clenches into a fist-like shape, and he stares at them, trembling.
"In the time that I have left, I will be a teacher. I will take up the torch in your honor. Take the children as they are."
His tentacles graze her wound, and his resolve hardens.
"No matter what.. I will never turn my back on them."
He grabs a piece of paper from among the debris, scribbling with lightening speed. He shoots up, leaving his letter behind.
[The tentacles spoke to me. Asked what I wanted to be. 'To be weak,' I said. 'To be flawed. Vulnerable. To perceive weakness in others. Not to exploit, but protect. To be a guide. To be a teacher.']
[Sometimes I'll be wrong. Sometimes my old self will bubble up to the surface. But... I'll give it my all.]
[I'll honor Aguri's memory.]
[Carry on her work, the best way I know how.]
Thus, the Assassination Classroom was born.