"Now, my final piece of advice to you all is, never show your full han-"
Before he can finish his sentence, professor Silho is punched into a fleshy explosion by a giant entity with no eyes.
There's a collective moment of silence as though waiting for a punchline
...punchline, there has to be a pun I can make.
Comprehending the events that just transpired, nobody moves, as if deciding between fight or flight. Except Roulette, who seems unfazed, giving an impressed whistle as Silho's head rolls to an eventual stop.
The impulsive people were the first to draw their swords as their shrieks tear across the room.
In a matter of seconds, the whole class panics. Swords slash as their weapons, and helminth explosions go off.
"What the hell is that thing?!"
"Professor...Silho...just...died!"
Fletcher attempts to calm everyone down. "Everyone! We need to stop and think rationally for a minute!"
Nobody listens to him.
The brown-haired girl from earlier stands in front of the class as if shielding them from danger. "Everyone get back! I shall protect you!" She attempts to stab the entity.
Witha whistling rip, her blaade pierces the stomach of the creature, only for it to quickly regenerate.
A red-haired boy sneaks up behind the monster and slashes it. The entity blocks the attack and throws the boy against a pole, impaling him. He manages to pull himself off as the hole in his own body regenerates.
Despite the chaos, Roulette is now attempting to spin a pencil and failing miserably. Burying my head in my crossed arms, I attempt to catch some z's, I begin to wish I'd brought my book. As people needlessly scream, my power nap now seems unattainable. Contemplating whether it's worth it, I eventually get up to hasten this fiasco.
Roulette smirks at me. "Where are you going? Trying to run?"
I stroll up to the window sill. "During emergency situations, people often get tunnel vision. They stop paying attention to their surroundings, blood is pumping, heart is racing, instincts take over, and they only see the enemy ahead."
Roulette looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "Okay, professor? Why the sudden lecture?"
I grab the pulsating eyeball creature that was tucked away in the corner of the window.
"Being able to see things objectively, the answer becomes-" I squish the eyeball. "Obvious."
The teacher had used his ability twice, the first time to plant the eyes and the second time to scare us into forgetting about them.
The red-haired boy once more, runs up to the entity. "Out of my way, extras! I'm going to finish this guy in one swing!"
As he dashes at the entity, the creature holds up another student. The red-haired boy stops his swing halfway as the entity strikes.
Looking around the classroom, I notice it's littered with fallen students. But as expected, no one is critically injured.
Grabbing the second eyeball entity, I toss it to Roulette. She fumbles with it a few times, slipping through her hands, it flops to the ground.
I curb-stomp the thing, staining the bottom of my shoe with blood, which recedes into the shadows.
Roulette looks down with pity. "You just crushed that little guy's dreams."
Sitting back down, attempting to reward my... courage, I close my eyes in hopes of taking a siesta.
The few people still fighting the monster can barely stand. Yet suddenly the entity begins to spaz and explode, its entrails decorating the walls.
People cheer as the blood stains, and the entity's corpse begins to recede into the shadows.
The door slams open, as Silho stomps in with a frown. Beside him is an older woman with long maroon hair in a lab coat. "Three gashes, four cases of blunt trauma, and two of you are bleeding out." He sighs "Yaoki, heal them..."
Silho doubles back as he stops her. "Actually, don't; I want them to feel this pain. Remember, folks, this is what failure feels like!"
The class gasps as though seeing a ghost. "Eh?! Professor? You died?!"
"Is that so? Did you confirm that? Where's my corpse?"
Heads turn to the spot where he'd exploded. There is no corpse.
The goody two-shoes girl raises her hand. "Excuse me, Professor, you said we failed. You make it sound as though this was some kind of test?"
"Congrats, detective, you managed to crack the case."
Fletcher excuses himself past a group of people. "But in the end, we did kill it? So how did we fail?"
"It doesn't matter that someone killed it. What matters is that I saw a bunch of kids aimlessly swinging their weapons. If you want to play make-believe heroes, be my guest. But... you'll have to sign this form for me.
The large monster from before re-appears and places forms on our desks.
"If you think you're here because you're special because you deserve to be here. You're going to be disappointed when you find out that you're expendable. I already told you that you exist solely to be punching bags for the strong. Once you break, we'll throw in another corpse to take your place. Now..."
Silho stands before us as he manages to give a communal glare. His monsters loom over our shoulders.
"SIGN!"
I can almost hear the social pressure to sign as my classmates pick up their pens. Roulette turns to me with a smirk; I can already tell this won't be good.
"Psst... Hey! Saint, wanna make a bet?"
"A bet?" I won't deny the fact that a little bit of gambling piqued my interest.
"I bet... nobody will drop out of the class right now."
"...One gold coin." I say matter of factly.
I speak before thinking, now internally sighing, I realize how childish that was of me.
She looks at me curiously, as if a statue had just moved.
"Hmm? You're actually kinda into this. Well... deal! No take backsies!"
I grab my pen and start scribbling circles, attempting to make as much noise as I can.
Other students begin to notice the sound of my pen on paper and quickly pick up their own. The fear of ostracizing themselves now lightened.
Roulette is initially confused but appears to connect the dots as she looks at me with starry eyes. "Looks like we now have two things in common!"
My plan seems to work as students begin to sign their names.
But Roulette gracefully gets up from her chair, a characteristic I would not have initially given to her. She throws out her hand as if she is about to make a court case.
"My dear classmates! Do not falter! This is just a trick! I know you... no, WE have the strength to become Luminaries! Don't give up before the fight has even begun. You must stand proud with your chest out!"
She certainly has her chest out.
I think this as I look at her...unique clothing choice.
"Don't let one failure define your future! Let us learn and become stronger as a class!"
That's all it takes, one voice. It doesn't hurt that it's a pretty one, too.
Fletcher gets up. "Yeah! She's right! We can't give up yet!"
Other students begin to put down their pens and join in.
Now, it wouldn't matter what the future holds. If one were to sign now, it would be the social suicide that would hurt most. Even considering the fact they would have never seen any of these people again.
The class begins to cheer as they muster up their courage one more.
Roulette sits down in an equally graceful fashion.
"What was that all about?"
"Can't go losing my chips, now can I? ...Anyway..." She coughs and makes very obvious motions towards her outreaching hand.
I wanted to test her, but it still annoys me to have to give her my money. "...yeah." I begrudgingly grab a coin.
She snags it before it ever leaves my pocket. "Nice doing business with you!" With a devious grin, she snickers.
The large entities go around the classroom, picking up the forms as if they were substitute teachers.
Fletcher and the brown-haired girl step up to the professor.
"What were you planning to do if we had died?"
"Well... I guess you wouldn't have been cut out to be Luminary's."
The brown-haired girl has a disturbed expression as if she were an angry parent at a town hall meeting. "That seems like a very irresponsible answer if this school doesn't have ways to handl-"
"Can it... or send your complaints to HR."
The doctor woman in a lab coat who is healing people questions whether they even have an HR department.
"If there aren't any questions, that's it for homeroom!"
I begin to pack up my stuff after taping the hole in the bottom of my bag.
Roulette pokes my side with some sharp object. "You joining any clubs?"
Clubs? It would be a good chance to socialize and make connections, but it seems like a waste of time. "...Probably not, I've never been a fan of social groups."
"Ehhh? So you're just gonna let your youth pass you by?"
"What about you?"
"Unlike Mr.Loner Boner, I'm joining a club with my friends!"
Behind Roulette's annoying face, I see the brown-haired girl from earlier stomping towards us with her large metal boots and her hands on her hips. She doesn't look too pleased.
"Ooh, she looks angry. Did you look up her panties or something?"
"I don't remember seeing a chastity belt."
Roulette's giggle is quickly interrupted as the brown-haired girl slams her hand down on my desk with her giant metal gauntlets.
"Where were you guys when that giant entity attacked?"
So she had time to look at me, but not the eyes controlling the thing?
While she stands in front of me I realize how tall she is. Her hair is brown at the top, yet it gradients down to a creme white at the base of her long straight hair. She's wearing black pants and a button-up shirt with cold shoulder cutouts, a mole under her lip, and a bright green tie that matches her eyes very well. I can't tell if she noticed me staring as she begins glaring at me.
I meet her eyes with a tired look. "It looked like you guys had it covered."
"Ooh, you're in trouble!" Roulette snickers.
The brown-haired girl adjusts her glasses as they fall down, now pointing at Roulette. "You're not off the hook yet, either. Your actions were just as cowardly."
Roulette gives a theatrically depressed expression.
The brown-haired girl's mood suddenly changes as she looks over as if she were a parent trying to comfort a sad child. "Well...at least you managed to convince everyone to stay in the class! Our classmates showed true courage and honor while fighting that demon! Meanwhile, you were sitting in the back, cowering in fear. A Luminary should present themselves in a proud manner. Willing to risk their lives to save those around them, not hide in the corner."
Roulette's overconfident face returns. "Now, Now. We apologize for our... laziness, and we promise to do better in the future."
"I'm sorry. But I can't ignore something like this. My name is Kunnia, and as one of the honored knights of Harisford, it is my responsibility to show my classmates what honor means."
What a self-entitled position to give onesel-
Before I can finish my thought, she slams a piece of paper down on my desk.
Roulette peeks over with excitement. "A love note?"
"No chance in hell! I would never date a spineless worm like him."
A shame, she's just my type. "Hey, that's not nice-"
"Saint...I will see you after school in the courtyard for our contract... you better be there." she glares at me.
She knows my name; I think my heart skipped a beat. I sarcastically think as I stare lifelessly at her. Thinking about how badly I want to sleep, barely managing a murmur of agreement.
"Hmm..."