[A/N: Warning! This chapter is long, but it shouldn't bother you.]
As gossip spread across the class, Kaien couldn't care less about the details. It was much better to stare into empty space than listen to them, or the door announcing an arrival.
The students were motionless as the desks themselves—but they were alive of course. The only anomaly in the room would be the teacher who walked in without a care.
"Alright class, we have a new student joining us today. Please come inside."
On his seat, Kaien did not feel a shift within him.
'Oh god. Please do surprise me... if you're alive in this world that is...'
A girl waltzed in and somehow managed to make him click his tongue. He didn't hate her though, it wasn't even about her.
'Of course she joins the cast. I just prayed to a dead corpse.'
Her dark blue hair flowed down her slender back, gleaming like the night sky. Her purple eyes shined even with the lack of light, an undying twinkle etched deep in her eyes. As she strolled in like she owned the place, Kaien felt his energy leave him without debate.
"Hello everybody! My name is Ai Hoshino, pleased to meet you. Oh, and please take care of me while I'm at it!"
Meanwhile, she was a cute bundle of the very energy that abandoned him.
His heart skipped a beat for a moment—it really did, but most chairs in the room had one thing in common. He recognised every kid who sat on them, and they were all from various fictional works.
To everyone else here, every student held an untold story. To Kaien, maybe even chairs could tell a tale he couldn't fathom—if we exclude background characters.
Ai Hoshino was no different.
From afar, her steps echoed.
Kaien grimaced, because her footfalls grew louder, closer.
He sighed, but never spared a glance.
'That vacant seat at the back must be hers, but I am too tired to recall where it is.'
The chalk grinded against the black board, but he had enough for the day. He opened his right eye, but his vision was cut short voluntarily. His fingers dug into his grey hair, the air carrying the hum of misfortune.
"Today, we were supposed to be focusing on an oral assignment. However, since we have a new student joining us... I was thinking of postponing, to give her more time. Is that okay with you, Hoshino-san?"
Many eyes flickered, a thought running through their minds at breakneck speed.
'Yes!!!'
"Oh no, I'll do just fine."
Then the collective mind crumbled.
'No!!!'
Everyone in class had to read the damn book and it was inevitable. Kaien listened to the teacher's first statement, and brushed practically everything else. Simply put,
he ignored him.
"Nishimiya Shouko, may you please stand up and read the passage."
He picked up the soft friction of the chair, his orbs given the chance to see the world once more.
Shouko's voice sliced through an atmosphere thick with attention—and not in a good way.
Kaien felt his ears begging for a lighter sentence. The problem? He wasn't even the executioner!
'I know she's putting in the effort, but her voice sounds like that of a broken doll.'
Naruko rigidly twisted her head towards Shouko, her ears screaming for everything to stop. To her, even the slightest tap on the desk was more akin to a drum beat. Just imagining Shouko's voice in her perspective sent shivers up his spine.
'Poor girl never had it easy. Though I was half expecting Naruto scream his head off.'
Noticing the suppressed smiles, the teacher waved his hands laterally.
"You can take your seat Nishimiya-san.'
Maybe it was because this is a real world—not ruled by a script, but she kept reading. He had to tug at her shirt, signalling her with thumbs up.
'Oh, I was hoping to read it some more.'
Her brown beady eyes maintained their untainted light, but she sat down.
Naruko collapsed on her desk, but no one took it seriously.
'Game over for her I guess.'
The students had finally settled, and so did the class.
Just when he thought he could catch a breath, he noticed something.
From his periphery, his frame pivoted up.
At the tips of his fingers was a book Shouko was reading.
His lips revealed faint amusement.
Kaien's brows twitched.
Shouya inhaled.
"Nyeh! Nyeh Nyeh Nyeh!"
The air that acted as a silent leash, shattered like glass under the weight of their laughter.
'I guess canon decided to shit with me, and fucking repeated itself!'
Kaien eyes dimmed, but a smile could not be helped. He questioned the very nature of his thoughts, while his eyes grew hollow.
'As promised Shouya, you only have three days.'
He gazed down at his desk—but he would not vent his anger on it.
There were better things to break.
Naruto stood up calmly, but the scowl on his face was not like him at all.
"Dammit, if you have nothing better to do then keep your mouth shut..."
His tone was soft, but the room was too quiet for the storm. His words pressed against their
shoulders, each learner gawking at the spectacle of their lives.
"I was just having a little fun, what's the problem with you dude?"
Seeing the boy's shit eating grin, Naruto's expression soured.
"You got it twisted. You're picking on defenceless girl, and taking advantage of her disability. And for what?! Laughs?! "
And just like that, even the mood plummeted the same way.
"Hey, behave. Do I need to send you two to the principal's office?"
The teacher uttered, but it was enough to break the tension.
'Tch, what a buzz kill. I misjudged the guy.'
Shouya just rolled his eyes as he sat down, while Naruto inhaled deeply as he did so. Their desks were a mile away from each other, enough to enforce a ceasefire.
'Kaien might be more dissatisfied than I am.'
His blue eyes flashed towards him, but he only needed a gentle smile to ease his worry.
Kaien sighed. At this point in time, comparing the two would be an insult to Naruto's intelligence.
'Still, it's only fair that I get to lie too. The inhabitants of this world thrive on it anyway.'
Especially that woman! He couldn't help but experience a flash of memories he had been avoiding.
---
And there she was, in the midst of the parking lot from the other day.
Her delicate fingers pulled at the handle along with the door. With a click, the warm interior was revealed to them. Two orange blurs rushed into the dark blue sedan, the seats pampering the two Uzumaki until they forgot the day's exhaustion.
"I never thought you'd have noticed."
Mei's complexion darkened as she caught sight of Kaien, who insisted she answered.
"To be honest, every parent is tense. There have been a few cases of children disappearing recently, so it's understandable. They even insisted they send their children to school and pick them up, even rioting on the matter."
As she spoke, every single word eroded the little hope he had left. As the back door of the sedan closed shut, her eyes could only find comfort with the sight of tar at her feet.
"But even that wasn't enough. They were kidnapped under their noses, within a crowd no less. We tried to ease the diffuse the situation so we could find the ones responsible, while making sure they don't panic."
Despite the protest, she fixed her gaze on his.
"How?"
"Mind erasure..."
His eyes shot open. He gritted his teeth.
She peeled back layers of his illusion, until Kaien saw the ugly truth behind every interaction.
"Have you... touched my memories?"
"No."
"That's a practiced response."
Then silence.
...
"I... had to protect the little innocence you had left."
His grey hair mopped down on his face, his clenched fists trembled. He lifted his head, no longer tempted to hide it anymore. Every car, every blur in the road blended into his surroundings.
Well everything could go to hell for all he cared!
She dared touch his soul!
"You fixed it? No, you couldn't even diagnose the problem at all... that's why you did the exact opposite!"
Mei stumbled back, but found her own reaction unusual.
"Tell me. Mei. Are you even human?"
"Of course I am human. Where's that coming from?"
"Because if you were human, then you should have questioned our circumstances. Why are we the only ones suffering? Why is it that other races have it better? Why are we the only ones getting our memories erased?!"
...
'Am I still talking to a child?!'
She stared at the boy before her, his grey eyes burning with unquenched flames. He could have held back his fury, but at whose expense?
As a human being, what else could he possibly do?
---
Kaien staggered out of school, his eyes hazy and unfocused. The words of their last encounter were still loud in his head.
'Kaien, you're just a child. This is for the greater good of humanity.'
'What? By making them weaker? By denying them the right to adapt to this reality?
Actually, who fed you that lie?! Some devil, an angel or the fallen ones?'
Mei looked away for a moment. She couldn't even bare to see an empty husk that once had ambitions.
"Dammit, that guy pisses me off. I'll give him a piece of my mind dattebayo."
"For once, I agree 'ttebane."
Their words barely registered, or maybe he let them slip on purpose.
The students walked past him, but he had become oblivious to their existence. His world must seem so small to the otherwise cruel reality he had a glimpse of. That's precisely why humans were kept in the dark.
'These two have grown, but Kaien still remains weak despite his best efforts. And I call myself his guardian.'
Mei followed the group with her gaze.
Her eyes caught a glimpse of light, a smile gracing her lips.
A pink haired girl approached Kaien.
"Hello Shouko."
Kaien gave her a faint smirk, taking the notebook she handed to him. Mei's heart felt a little lighter, but also could not find it in her to relax. At the very least, someone managed to reach him—even if it wasn't necessarily Mei herself.
A woman with similar features gazed at them, her expression growing more serene. She had pink hair just like the girl, albeit she looked older.
'At least she has a child, while my own family is falling apart.'
Then again, she never truly had a family in this world.
Maybe that's why she saw those three—Kaien, Naruko and Naruto—as her own.
His pace slowed to a stop, as he bowed to the woman in greeting.
"You must be Shouko's mother. Nice to meet you."
"Calling Shouko by her given name? I assume you are good friends?"
Something pulled away at Naruto's conscience—probably Kaien's weakening footsteps that even Mei noticed. Naruto slowed down as well, turning to find that Kaien had separated from them.
"I would like to extend an invitation to you and your family. I'd like to bond with Shouko, if that's okay with you."
"Not a problem, but you must live far away. Are you sure?"
"I don't mind at all."
"Then you have my approval."
He bowed right away, and jogged to catch up with the others. His smile slowly disappeared, his orbs landing on Mei.
"Do you see that? Every single person who's close to me, I don't have the strength to protect. The same is true for them."
"Kaien I..."
"You don't need to."
With that interception, she felt a lump form in her throat.
Her expectations were unrealistic, for a positive encounter to rewrite what she had done. He looked up at her, this time his grey eyes had a saddening light.
"I have forgiven you, but... do you realize that we are just fools on a chessboard, and they're the ones pulling the strings?"
And the chessboard? DxD itself...
...
[A/N: Yo! Just wanted to check on you guys since it's been a while. I also wanted you guys to hep me by pointing out any errors. It would be a big help.
So, Happy Reading Everybody!]