Sanctuary
"Hello, good morning, and why do we have the honor of seeing your betraying lying face in front of us this morning?!"
Ah, him. Hyouga had snuck away from his brother to see Sanctuary, to let them know that Aguri was no longer with them. The secretary was busy typing on a computer, filing papers, while staring him down with his unmoving frown. "Hey, Digi. I wanted to talk to those in charge."
"They are busy, moving, fell apart, died, or any assortment of those things," Digi said as he shook his green tentacles at him. "You aren't welcome here. You broke out the messiah's woman!"
"Hyouga!"
Great, his presence was causing a scene now. Others were slithering over as well.
"I don't even know why we let half-committed people like you join in the first place," one of them complained. "Look at you, still human after this long, and with no excuse."
"No excuses!" Others around him chimed like annoying parents.
Join? Their minds. "I never joined. None of us joined," he corrected them. "We were taken and experimented on unwillingly. A large degree of us used to work for Yanagisawa."
"Nonsense, he speaks nonsense!"
"Absolute traitor, let's stretch him 'til he dies! We'll see how committed he really had been."
Hyouga didn't make a fuss. Antimatter changed people's outer emotions heavily, but most likely they wouldn't try to hurt him. "I'm sorry I took Aguri."
"You took the destined woman of the messiah," Digi corrected him. "We put so much work into making sure she was perfect. After losing the messiah, how could you take away our chance at getting his greatness back?"
"How are we to find our place out there in this judging world of humans? We are Sanctuary! We need our own planet so our own species prospers. Only the chosen one can find it," Digi said right back. He was turning a sharp red.
Hyouga forgot what Digi's red color meant. Each one of them that had their humanity mostly stripped away changed a variety of colors and some even had shapes on them that would appear. Everyone was different.
Desperate maybe? "Even if she did stay, it would be how many years before you could find your place out in the stars?"
"Then we would hang on until it was ready," Digi said back. "Don't come back, Hyouga."
Damn. "Look. I can't. I want." He looked at his hand. It was forming into tentacles. His wants and needs, it wanted to be granted by the tentacles. If Aguri just, if she hadn't left.
His own brother was in the line of trouble when Korosensei found out the truth. He had to get more help, to get what he wanted. The tentacles told him so. "Aguri has left my brother and I. Follow us all you wish, it doesn't matter, she won't come back."
Digi turned purple and growled. Others around him growled, turning several different shades.
"How are the prototypes?" he asked Digi. Digi wouldn't answer. No one would. They all just wiggled their tentacles at him, like they were on alert to attack if they had to.
"Leave and don't come back," Digi warned him. "You're not seeing anyone else."
"I have news." He had to. "In exchange, I just want to be free with my brother after this. Also, if the chosen one doesn't choose to stay with Aguri, I want her too."
His words stirred them all to stop growling.
"He has risen again?" Digi asked. "You speak in the terms of now, of present."
"He was dead," Hyouga confirmed. "Aguri had been prepared to catch his antimatter. She wanted his particles to have a funeral and lay him to rest in peace. Instead, her presence excited his particles. When some Sanctuary members attacked her, he had come back to his solid antimatter form." He spread his arms out to all. "The messiah has returned, we no longer need Aguri to fulfill the prophecy."
"He is back!"
"He has arisen!"
Digi stood up too. "If you are lying, you will be skinned alive being keelhauled against the ground at our top speeds." Yet, his angry expression couldn't disguise the excitement in his voice. "Which is nothing close to the speed of our lord and savior, God of Death! Korosensei!"
"Korosensei! Korosensei!"
"We are going to get away from all of these imperfect humans, and grow our intellect and culture away from these barbarians. We will multiply and be plentiful, with a new world our Korosensei will lead us to!" Digi yelled with delight. "For he has risen again, to lead us all!"
Hyouga heard all the chanting. He knew that would happen.
"Aguri somehow caused it, didn't she?" Digi questioned him. "She truly is his. The right choice was made."
"The right choice?" He thought they couldn't be more insane. "Yanagisawa was trying to hunt us all down. He was using his own means, tearing out our own tentacles and making them betray us. He was creating new experiments and people with them, all because of what we took away from him."
Aguri. As much as he hated to say it, she had been the fiance of Yanagisawa. He was even the one who had saved her life. And? They took her.
They took her and prepped her as the one for the Reaper. "He felt so betrayed, the things he did afterward. He was the reason Korosensei had to perish. Think wisely about what you say about Aguri."
"The price had already been paid then, for she was made for Korosensei," Digi declared. "The brilliance of the Lord God of Death with the sacrificial kindness of our Lady Aguri, will lead us to our bright future." He pointed to Hyouga. "Do not ask for Lady Aguri again. You are far from worthy of her graces."
Yep. Same old Sanctuary. He hadn't even offered a lick of proof he was telling the truth, and they all believed him. Their tentacles.
Having been changed with more than one in a room, they were experiments to see what non-isolation did. Their thoughts and fears and dreams all seemed to become one. Their wishes from their tentacles had all become the same too.
Their strange warped world. Hyouga was lucky the experiments stopped on him, or he would have been just as whacked out as them.
They weren't a species. They weren't going to go to another planet. Korosensei was not their god. Hyouga was only one of a few who could accept that truth.
"Fine." For now, he wouldn't bother Aguri. He didn't even know where she'd gone, but Sanctuary would find her. Hopefully, before it was too late.
More than half of it's members had taken the shape of octopi. Each of them had about a tenth of the skill as Korosensei had. Not everyone had every same skill as God of Death, but with over 2500 of them banning together, their intellect was almost boundless. It didn't take long for business propositions and all the money and investments from their 'former lives as meaningless humans' to create Sanctuary.
It was Yanagisawa's fault. His overzealous needs had made him create a bigger testing group after the fiasco, using his own scientists. From that mistake, their intellectual minds were part insanity. They escaped, but continued Yanagisawa's work, creating their own kind. To them, their definition of species was becoming 'above human'.
Each one that had been added to the group, had rebelled at first, but was brainwashed into believing it too. They would then handle the next batch. Transformation became easier and less time consuming, less painful, and more honorable the more it was performed.
When it first began, Hyouga had been in it, but he was selected from another few to be taken out. Little by little, one was removed from group testing to see how it affected their mind. Were they better or worse for it? That kind of thinking was stopped soon after others started to rebel against Sanctuary.
Any that were 'invited to join' would be fully transformed as much as possible. Still, no one could master the level of The God of Death. He was miraculous before he ever became antimatter, making his skills and fame move off the charts.
He was an evil human turned a good Sanctuarist. He loved a good woman, who sacrificed herself to reach him. That was one thing Aguri couldn't seem to understand. It wasn't just that she knew Korosensei and was his friend in life.
Her sacrifice and love is what was deemed had changed him to the antimatter god they worshipped and adored. She was the one who brought him to the world, and she could do it again.
And the fact that she actually did would never turn out well for her.
There was no telling what the God of Death would try to do to 'save her', since he didn't know the truth. Hyouga was sorry for Aguri, but Sanctuary knew what it should and shouldn't do with her. She didn't and neither did Korosensei.
For her own good, Sanctuary needed to get her back. "They were both loving school teachers before. I'm sure if we look for new teachers that are related or joining in pairs, we will find them."
They would find them faster if they sent out octopi, they had the highest abilities, but they could be detected easier too. They tend to send out regular looking new members that were recently inducted into Sanctuary. They looked human enough to have no problems.
However, they were looking for Korosensei and Aguri, with a need to do it quicker. "The God of Death may accidentally kill her if he doesn't understand the mechanics. We need to send octopi this time."
"This time is different," Digi warned him. "Who would want to oppose God of Death? If he is alive, then we can't just take his sacrificial love."
"He wants answers, and he isn't going to get them when she doesn't have a way to look inside of herself," Hyouga reminded them. "He's concerned. He might let you take them, just to find out what's going on."
By then, even Korosensei wouldn't be able to escape easily. They would be trying to mess with his sanity too, taking him to the brink to make him believe he was their god too.
Most likely, the Reapers brain would be mush, but Hyouga didn't care about that.
Aguri would be safe, and maybe if Korosensei was gone? He thought about his present again. Maybe it wasn't over yet.
————————
Grocery Store
Aguri was learning to adapt to the small town they managed to get their jobs in. She was doing fairly well now, teaching new minds, and learning new things too. There was a lot more than just aim a gun to assassination.
Like she thought, Koro didn't automatically wish her good luck and gave her the tactics to kill them. It wasn't something she savored either, so he was going over more basic tactics of taking on an enemy.
He was teaching her self defense, and he said he wanted to teach her tactics to be his support system. His expertise didn't surprise her in the slightest.
However, if only he could take his pervertedness down a degree. It was okay when he was just focused on her, but even now, that wasn't his usual smile as he greeted the cashier. She's not even that pretty, she's just got big boobs. Which was his thing. I have nicer boobs. It's not like he didn't ever leer at Aguri either.
She placed more of the groceries down. Only you would get jealous of someone not oggling you. Well, it wasn't that, it was more . . . she didn't know. She liked the extra attention sometimes maybe? I am going to chalk this up to antimatter weirdness in my head.
"Mister and Mrs. Higurashi?"
Aguri looked behind her and saw the school's principal. "Hello, Sir." She glanced toward Koro who was still oggling the cashier. "Koro, Principal."
Koro turned and waved. "Hello Principal Sai."
Oh, he clearly saw Koro oggling that woman too.
"Hello." Principal Sai didn't have as much joy in his voice as Koro. He glanced back toward Aguri, then back at Koro. "You should watch yourself, Mister Higurashi, or your wife won't need a few months off in the future."
A few months off? When they first met they did have a conversation about her health briefly, but it didn't seem like a big deal. "I won't need a few months off," she promised.
"Yes, not if your husband keeps doing that kind of thing," Principal Sai said.
Not if he kept doing that kind of thing? He clearly sees Koro's pervertedness. What does that have to do with months off? Aguri watched Koro's reaction. Careful!
He was starting to bend in a way a human wouldn't bend to the side, more like a tidal wave, but he caught himself and stopped. He started giggling uncontrollably. Not like something was funny, but he was covering his mouth with his hands too. "Right, right! I'll be better." Still, he was still filled with giddiness.
As they finished through the line and started to leave, Aguri had to ask. "What happened in there? Why does he think I'd need a few months off?"
Koro started getting giddy again. "Nothing, nothing."
"Hmph." Aguri crossed her arms. "It isn't nothing. We said in the future things couldn't be predicted, sort of, but he is thinking months of my health." She still didn't get it. "What does my health have to do with your actions in there?" He just laughed again, that usual funny tone she loved.
Except, she wasn't loving this. "Koro."
"Principal Sai!" Koro yelled at him excitedly waving as he saw him leaving the store from behind them. "Just being friendly! I know my Mrs. is a heavier cup size and she's sexier by miles. I should know, I'm her Korosenpai."
See, of course he noticed that. Wait, why was he saying that out loud toward the principal? "Koro!"
"I?" The principal seemed confused too. "I don't need excuses, I'm not the one married to you. Please don't yell that out at the super market."
"It's true." Koro glanced at her. "Tell him."
Tell him? "Tell him my cup size and agree I'm sexier by miles?"
"No, the other thing," he said.
Aguri blinked. "Korosenpai?"
"Yes!"
The amount of giddiness on his face. Koro. Every time he was teaching her, he had her use that name for him. Even now, he couldn't miss the opportunity to have her say it.
"See?" Koro said to the principal "She really does use that. That's way better than any other pair of-"
"Shoes." Aguri knew that word didn't fit. Koro was excited and the more excited he got, the more he slipped up. She really should have interrupted him sooner. Why was I just standing around like a doofus while he yelled at the principal? "Have a good day, Principal Sai."
He didn't even bother saying goodbye. Oops. "We should probably head home."
"Principal Sai had us completely off his radar," Koro said as he pushed the cart. "Once I figured it out, I knew I had to jazz up the conversation."
So he really meant to do that? "What was it about?"
Koro stopped at their car, grabbed a sack of groceries and almost had his face completely hidden as he said, "Pregnancy."
Pregnancy? Aguri took the groceries from him as he passed them over. "Principal Sai thought I was pregnant?"
"That or going to be." Koro picked up the next set of groceries. "This could be done in like a tenth of a millisecond in the past." He gave them to her. "But I'd rather pass them to you anyway."
"So kind," she said sarcastically as she put them in the car. Koro was right, there wasn't even an ounce of doubt as to the identities they had given the principal. Korosensei was practically labeled as an unstoppable monster in the press.
As long as he kept thinking Koro and her were well connected and might have a baby, the less likely he'd ever put anything else together. "I don't think it's technically lying."
"It wasn't, I know your cup size." Koro missed the point as he handed her the last of the groceries.
As Aguri took them though, her stomach started to growl strangely. No, that was . . .
Koro quickly took them back as Aguri felt faint. Her stomach felt terrible too. Was this it?
Was this the end that was coming for her? She grasped her stomach with one hand and the car door with the other, drifting downward.
She wasn't on the drifting downward motion for long as Koro took her and placed her in the back seat. He asked her about pain. Her eyesight was fuzzy but she could tell he was trying to stick a tentacle down her throat.
She heard him muttering about no gag reflex and that being normal, she heard him muttering about nothing changing about the inside and that he could still feel the antimatter. She wasn't sealed off on the inside to him, it wasn't closing up any more than it had been previously.
"Nothing's changed. Maybe you just ate too much," Koro reasoned. "I don't know. Let's go home, relax, watch a movie, and . . ." He didn't say anything else as he closed the back door on her. He went to the front and started to drive slowly.
Neither of them really knew if it was the end or not yet.
————————-
Time was a funny thing. Koro examined some of the shows on TV, trying to find a good one. Pricey but this one was a good one. I wanted to show Aguri this one. I wanted to show Aguri even more too. Decisions.
Aguri was on the couch, holding her stomach but otherwise okay.
Maybe it was a tummy ache. Maybe it wasn't. I know that she wouldn't have long. Right after she left this world, he would leave it too.
"Koro?"
Hopefully, it'd be nice to have at least one more day.
"I think it was gas."
Koro turned and watched her move her hand from her stomach.
"I feel better." She shrugged. "It just came and went. What are we watching?"
Good, good! More time. I've been graced with a little more time. "This is a good one!" He joined her on the couch, watching her reaction.
She was sitting up straight, looked healthy, and looked normal. Looked ready to watch a show with him. "I'm hungry. I'm going to go make some popcorn." She got up and headed away for a little while. "Do you want some of the chocolate cake?"
He didn't even have to answer. He may not be able to move very fast outside, but inside their little apartment, he couldn't miss the opportunity to pop right up next to her. Plus, when she jumped, her boobs jumped too. "Yes!"
She grasped at her chest. "You are lucky I'm feeling better." She handed him a plate with a piece already cut. She probably knew he'd want it before she even asked.
He took the plate and went right back to the couch. He waited a few minutes longer for her popcorn.
"It's been a good start to the year," she admitted as she started eating her popcorn. "I wonder how Akari is doing this year?"
"I wonder about all my students," Koro admitted, "but I know they are doing fine." He took out the cake. "My new students are all doing good too."
"Am I doing good, Korosenpai?" Aguri asked him.
Hot damn, Aguri. "Yes, you make me oh so proud." If he looked in a mirror, he knew he'd be so pink. He could hear her innocent words with their innuendos thousands of times and never get tired of it.
"We're watching a video instead of working though. I hadn't been feeling well, but I feel better now." Aguri was stuck in what to do.
"A night off with Korosenpai is a better idea," Koro said for her. "Just say 'Please, Korosenpai, one night off' and I'll start the movie."
Damn. She even had such an innocent little look in her eye.
"Please, Korosenpai, can I have just one night off?"
His tentacles waved all over the place. "I don't know, do you think your far enough in your studies yet?"
She folded her hands in prayer. "Oh please Korosenpai? For me? Just one night off to be with you on the couch?"
Aw, she had to know what she was doing all the time, right? She had to. She had to! But she did it soo innocently with those gestures.
She blinked twice. "Is that a yes, Korosenpai?"
"Yee!" He squeaked it out.
"Good." She turned back around, and brought her legs on the couch to cross them. "I hope it's a good movie."
"Heart-pounding." He wasn't talking about the movie. Mrs. Koro Higurashi. He'd been the one to think of the last name. He remembered the show Inuyasha where a half demon had been killed by the girl he loved, and her reincarnation brought him back to life.
What other name would he ever use for them? Still, it felt like such an act, but when Principal Sai revealed he'd believed they were planning on having a baby? Something inside of him just fluttered and giddiness poured out of him like syrup on hot cakes!
For all his life, except his last year of life, he never had that kind of . . . anything. No love, no family, no nothing. He was the God of Death and there was zero chance any part of him ever loved anyone until he met the woman shoving popcorn in her mouth right now.
After her death, his heart had a chain reaction. It was open to loving others, especially his students. All because of her. Aguri Yukimura.
"Porn?"
Huh? "Hm?" Pink, so pink.
"There hasn't been much of anything but sex, are you tricking me into porn, Korosenpai?" she teased him.
"Oh." Was it? "There's plot, I swear, keep watching. It's a murder mystery."
"Oh. It's a sexy murder mystery?"
"Yep, that's why it's a really good movie." He tried to control his tentacles but they had to wiggle in the air for a little while. "You'll love it, Mrs. Higurashi."
A night of just them. He had that priviledge every night now, but he was still thankful he had it. He was about to tell her about the movie, when he heard sounds behind them.
Aguri had turned in the same direction he looked. "Oh no, not-"
———————————
Sanctuary
Koro woke up, his head feeling oh so funny. We must have been kidnapped. Wow, Sanctuary was good, he barely even heard them. Considering they had anti-anti nets, they must have had something to knock him out real well too.
He sat up and reached his tentacle toward his sphere-like face. At least, that is what was supposed to happen. "What?"
His hand. It looked like his old human hand. He rubbed the face more. Tough skin, but skin. The shape wasn't a sphere either. He stroked his chin. Yeah, it was his human chin, no one else's.
He got up, feeling his whole body being sluggish and slow. He moved toward a mirror that had been in the room.
Staring back at him, was the Reaper. The God of Death. The nameless man no one knew, and he thought had been lost forever.
He spread his fingers out, hoping for at least shreds of tentacles to appear forth. No such luck.
"Hello!" Someone banged on the door. It was a perky looking human with bright red glasses. "Good morning, Lord God of Death. Don't be alarmed, you are just in a shell. I am your secretary." She giggled. "You can call me Lola. Whatever you want, I can get it for you."
"Great!" He could work with that. "I want out of this shell, I want Aguri back, and I'd like both of us out of here please. We can't be late for work, the year's just starting you know."
She giggled into her hand. "The god of us all is such a kidder." She walked in. As soon as she did, her whole body seemed to transform and blub away, with her hand becoming a tentacle to hold her glasses. She was now an orange antimatter octopi. "I have a unique shell that comes and goes, part of my abilities. Lady Aguri also had this, but we needed her to stay in a tighter shell for her safety."
Safety. It doesn't sound like they are wanting anything to happen to Aguri. "Do you know how long she has left?"
"Left?" She waved her tentacles around. "Surely you jest, Reaper! For she is our Lady Aguri, the shell is there to prevent any mishaps. She shall live a long life, praise be to you!" Then, just as quickly as she had done, she became human again. She was wearing nothing but her glasses now. "I have all the itineraries for all of our investigations, spies, profit, credit, and debit that I can help you with. You name it, and I will help you with anything you want."
Oooh. "As tempting as you are." Which was tempting. Naked woman in front of him to clearly be ready to grant his every desire. She'd probably worship him in any style he chose. "I want Aguri."
"To see your Lady? Fine, follow me." She took her glasses off and changed back to an orange octopus again. "Lady Aguri will be this way."
No longer having his abilities due to his human shell, he still watched around him as much as possible. He couldn't just trick his way out, he didn't know anything about Aguri yet.
All around them were rooms like he'd been trapped in. They had open windows, but the majority of them had the luxury of curtains. Some didn't, and he saw real living areas. Real antimatter octopus' were reading books, surfing the TV, talking to the company of other octopi. "Nobody has a real problem being locked up?"
"They aren't," Lola answered. "Once you've been here for one month, you are free to leave if you wish. No one wishes to, and so we all have separate rooms as our homes."
Then, he heard a gut wrenching scream down the hall.
"Those are the newly joined," Lola answered for him. "They are locked up until they see the truth."
He just chuckled nicely. "I'm sure they will soon." Whatever they are doing with the antimatter, it really is controlling the minds. Why didn't Aguri's mind get changed then? "This place looks splendid! Lady Aguri didn't have as pleasant of a time here though."
"Lady Aguri wasn't formed with us," Lola told him. "She was formed by our enemy, Kotarou Yanagisawa. We however knew of her importance, and knowing that our Lord Reaper was out there doing just things with his own time, had re-infiltrated as spies with shells. We worked with her during the later of her transformations and took her back from the enemy."
"Good." He would have felt wrecked inside if Aguri was as messed up as that place.
"Yes, Yanagisawa was not pleased, our most faithful stayed behind and convinced him we killed her so that she could be in the afterlife waiting for our lord and savior." She winked and held her fingers only a little spread apart. "He was a teensy bit mad about that."
Yanagisawa wanted to end the life of his very students just to have him suffer. "Yeah, I could see that. Hey, are we getting closer to Lady Aguri?"
"Yes, yes, she's in a special section. We are refixing her shell."
"You said Aguri was like you, and could change back and forth." Even Aguri said that. "Why don't you just let her be then? She won't be trying to mess with you, if you just stop messing with her."
"Oh!" Suddenly, Lola whipped around and looked embarrassed. "Oh my Lord Reaper!" She bent down and started to kneel. "Praise be to you, for we were weak and did not know. We thought we would need to create another Lord Reaper to lead us to our promised planet of paradise."
They were going to turn Aguri into their Reaper? What in the world did that mean?
"However, you exceeded all expectations when you rose again after your death. Still, what's done is done." She stood back up and bent toward him one more time.
What's done is done? "What did you do to Aguri?"
"It's the reason we have to maintain a special shell for her." She started to walk again and pointed ahead. "Right there, this room."
Koro looked inside. Aguri was all hooked up to a machine. What the hell are they doing to her?! He was boiling inside. He couldn't hide his feelings. His mind went back to her requests.
To teach her how to assassinate. This place hurt hurt so much, someone as kind as Aguri wanted to take it down.
"It will be okay, Lady Aguri is just getting some help with her shell. It must expand just a little. It will need regular expansions as time goes by," Lola said. "The Lord Reaper is still angry?"
"He isn't the only one."
Hyouga! That sad sack of- "Traitor."
"Aguri left. I couldn't leave her out there being naïve of her condition," Hyouga said, like that was a good enough excuse.
"You could have told us her condition." Not good. That burning inside as God of Death was rising faster. "Is she dying, yes or no?"
"No," Hyouga said. "She isn't dying, but I know Aguri and-"
"I know Aguri better." Koro wouldn't let him keep that sentence.
"She'd be saddened if she screwed things up," Hyouga said, finishing his sentence. "I couldn't tell you before, Korosensei, you wouldn't take it well in that environment."
"No, I'm pretty sure you were too scared to tell me," Koro corrected him. He stuck his hands in the pants he wore. "I'm not a quick antimatter octopus using Mach for fun anymore. I'm just a human. You forget though." He whistled a tiny tune. "I was famous before I was Korosensei."
Hyouga didn't answer that back. He just paused a few seconds and then continued. "Part of Sanctuary will treat you like a god. They are the earliest members. Others don't believe that and will treat you like the destined leader. The first part is nearly 30%, but they speak the loudest and tend to be in the higher places."
Who cared. "What's wrong with Aguri?"
"You'd know if they followed my plan, but they just nabbed you instead." Hyouga nodded toward Lola. "Show him."
"You are not my Lord, and you do nothing but make him mad." Lola took her tentacles and wrapped them around his neck. She smiled at Koro. "I am also the Messenger of God. Anything you would like to say to either group in Sanctuary, I will translate for you."
"She means the religious vs. the leader followers," Hyouga managed to squeeze out.
Oh. "Tell Hyouga something for me then." Koro whispered to her.
She choked Hyouga harder.
Koro whispered to her again.
She softened the choke. Hyouga started to breathe better.
Koro whispered to her again.
She choked Hyouga twice as much.
After enough gagging that Hyouga's face was turning red, Koro told her to leave him be. "Thanks, Lola. What a nice secretary you are. Just grab him with your back tentacles and bring him up here to face me."
She obliged again.
Koro stared at him. Not good. Not bad. He just stared.
"You'll know." Hyouga's voice was hard to hear. Probably from all the choking on and off. "Just ask them to show you."
Fine. "Lola, show me."