I R O H A I N U K A I
犬飼 彩葉
student no. 29
season 2 episode 23
Our eyes couldn't catch up with them at Mach speed, it was only the sound of each attack that helped us realize just what was going on. But despite that, we know at least this much: that Korosensei wasn't the one who had the upper hand.
It was an mismatched fight, a sonic boom with every attack. Two enemies, and one with twice of his abilities. They were in a entirely different world, it made all our hard work over the past year seem like nothing.
If Korosensei couldn't do anything, what more us?
We were nothing but a hindrance. We couldn't even run away.
"Is he... starting to dodge?" Takebayashi averted our attention back to our teacher, who seemed to have managed to change the momentum. But as soon as Yanagisawa noticed that, he jumped, emitting the light that Korosensei was intolerant to, in attempt to slow the octopus down.
Even so, the octopus truly did know how to pull of his own stunts. With that slight change in momentum, it made everyone think that maybe there was an ounce of hope.
"Wow..." Fuwa gasped, in awe at the sight of our teacher fighting with all he had.
"Evading attacks with the minimum amount of strength, using soil to block the light... He's closing in and killing their power. Seeing him improvise a way to close their battle-power gap... That's our Korosensei—through and through" Ritsu observed, a sense of proudness in the tone of her voice.
"This is where I, his teacher, take responsibility for my pupil who's strayed from the path" Korosensei declared as the landed on the ground, standing in front of each other, "However, Yanagisawa, leave us. This is a place for students to learn and grow. You are not entitled to be here!".
"Hm. Still fancy yourself a teacher, eh, guinea pig? Then let's put you to the test" the other man challenged. "Don't you see why we chose this moment to make our move?".
With a snap of his finger, 2.0 stood in front of the class, ready to destroy us at any given signal.
"You'll protect them, right? Isn't that what a teacher does?" Yanagisawa taunted, as the super creature directed its attack on us.
By the time our other two teachers arrived, Korosensei already took damage from the impact.
"Korosensei!" Nagisa exclaimed as soon as the smoke cleared up, Yanagisa laughing at him in mockery.
"You're the very model of an educator, guinea pig! You can escape these harsh blows on your own, yet you take them head-on to protect your students!" he faced the octopus, before turning to his partner. "Alright, 2.0: next!".
"Next."
"Next."
"Next!"
"Next. Next. Next."
Six consecutive blows, followed after the first one, each occurring right after the mastermind's orders.
"Korosensei!" Kayano called out to him, who was throwing up on the ground, after receiving all those impacts.
"Put the target with his students and this was bound to happen" Yanagisawa faced us. "Weong answer, kids. Deciding to show up here tonight was a bad move".
We knew that.
More than anyone, right now, we understood that clearly the most.
"Stop this, Yanagisawa! Don't drag those students any deeper!" Karasuma-sensei interfered, aiming a gun at the man. I took a second for Yanagisawa to throw him off, and knock him on the ground, Bitch-sensei running to him soon after.
"Karasuma!"
My head throbbed. My bloodlust was tame, but my head hurt. The pain was one of those symptoms, in which I received every single time I lost myself. It was incredibly hard to just stand here and watch.
Calm down, Iroha. I chanted in my mind. Calm down. Calm down.
"Shut up and watch government lapdogs. You don't stand a chance against me now" Yanagisawa ordered, as our teachers stayed there, helpless.
We knew, all this time. We'd see it and yet we'd look away.
"How does it feel? What's it like seeing your despairing students being a hindrance to their dear, dear teacher? Now do you see it? Your greatest weak point?" Yanagisawa and the Reaper continued their ongoing torture, that's when we faced the truth.
Korosensei's greatest weakness was us.
"That's preposterous!" The octopus shouted. "This isn't a question of right answer or wrong! They risked life and limb to try to save me, and overcame obstacles to meet me here! That process, those hearts—they're the greatest gift a teacher could receive! They're not a weak point and they're not a hindrance! They're my students! And I'm proud of each and every one of them! What's more... protecting one's students is a teacher's natural duty!"
✖︎︎●✖︎
I felt something inside me snap, as soon as we watched that tentacle impale Kayano.
The girl acted on impulse as if she had a death wish, standing up for Korosensei, interfering in their fight in order to buy him time to patch himself up. It was so stupid, so foolish, that Nagisa tried to stop her and Karma even shouted how crazy she was.
We would have let her off the hook with a simple scolding if she actually managed to pull her little stunt off. We would have forgotten about all this if she didn't stand there, only to get killed by the inhuman creature.
If only it was all that simple. Because the next thing we knew, we couldn't even scream due to the shock shock. Our eyes winded, our face pale, our palms were ice cold.
As soon as her body fell on the ground, limp, and cold, at that moment it didn't take genius to know. I let the pain consume me. All the reasoning and restrain I had left flew out of the window.
I lost it.
It was as if the world turned black. At that point it didn't matter if I died right then and there. The bloodlust was so overwhelming that only one thing mattered.