{Kunugigaoka Junior High School, Japan}
At the top of a hill, an abandoned facility, a group of students, an unknown dome enclosing all.
Sobs, wails, cries could be heard from the distressed group of teenagers. Each held a rubber knife close to their chests, embracing, comforting each other. Millions of what seemed to be fireflies surrounded them.
How can it be? Why did he have to die? Why were they not strong enough to save him? Why?
So many unanswered questions. So many things they will never be able to do.
The fireflies slowly disappear, lulled by the quiet melody, they slowly go higher and higher in the sky. Merging with the stars, they soon, completely fade away. Only the faint memory of them remains. The painful yet bitter-sweet memory of their now-deceased teacher.
Is he happy where he is? Has he reunited with Yukimura-sensei? Will he still look over us?
So many things they can only guess.
This night, on the eve of their graduation day, class 3-E killed their homeroom teacher.
::
{Palermo, Sicily, Italy}
In a back alley, a tall man stood. He wore a simple black trench-coat, hunched over himself, he held his head with his left gloved hand. His white hair slowly swayed with the early morning's gentle breeze, his breathing was uneven and his eyes closed.
A hand rested on his chest. "Damn," he muttered in a low voice, "not now."
Leaning against the nearest wall, he slowly fell to the ground, his left hand on his lap. Taking a quick glance at his watch, he could see his heartbeat getting uneven, faster and faster, "I'm sorry Ran-chan," he croakily whispered. His heart stopped. His limp body against the cold wall, he left this world.
The man's right hand twitched. The body jerked to the front, gasping for air, the man held his shirt's fabric tightly, eyes wide, they roamed the dark street he was in, uncertain.
Where am I? How am I still alive? The students, how are my students?
Slowly getting up with the wall's help, he regulated his breathing. No use in panicking, it will only make his situation worse. He was a teacher, a good one if he may say so, his students had tried to save him and in a way succeeded as they took out his ex-apprentice and Shiro. Nevertheless, they, his students killed him. A satisfying death, then, why was he still alive?—
Two men emerged from both side of the back alley, black suits and a gun hidden behind their jacket, they slowly made their way toward him. The smaller one tched, "Come on," he lit up his cigarette. "aren't you dead yet? Here I thought this attack of yours would have killed you." he took a drag of his cigarette, puffing out a cloud of smoke. "Guess you live up to the rumors..." he trailed off. "Tch, more work for us now."
Annoyed, the shorter male, snapped his finger, suddenly a woman jumped down from the rooftop. Not waiting for any more indications, she swiftly thrust her blade in the white-haired male's direction. Barely dodging the incoming hit, the male kicks her in the stomach and sends her into her silent accomplice's way, successfully knocking both of them out.
His only solution is to make a run for it and somehow get rid of the smaller man. Bolting into his direction, he didn't see the smirk on his face. "As expected," a chuckle "but did you, really think I didn't have a plan B?" he said mockingly. A second shadow fell from the roof, he couldn't react, they were too fast, in a matter of seconds, he is on the ground, laying in a pool of blood, his blood.
Taking, another drag from his cigarette, the short figure exhales "In the end, you weren't anything special," he muttered, voice full of disdain. "I don't understand how your bounty can be so high, Yucca."
With this, the limp man closed his eyes and fell in a never-ending sleep.
—What was that? He wondered, rubbing his head to soothe his headache, he gathered his thoughts about what he had just seen.
What was this vision, a memory, but it felt so real? And who is Yucca?
He didn't have time to ponder on these questions, footsteps, coming from each side of the back alley indicated people were coming. Two familiar silhouettes emerged from the shadow.
Familiar? Why did they fell familiar?
"Come on," one of the figures called out, "aren't you dead yet? Here I thought this attack of yours would have killed you." he took a drag of his cigarette, puffing out a cloud of smoke. "Guess you live up to the rumors..." he trailed off. "Tch, more work for us now." Déjà vu?
"Um, excuse me, who are you?" he inquired confused.
"Ha, you don't remember me? Who do you think you are? Because you've been getting, more exposure you think you're above me?" the short male fumed. "Tch, you don't need to know, you're not worthy of knowing Yucca when I'll have killed you it won't matter."
Yucca? Are they talking about him?
"Wait— I think you've got the wrong person," the tall male exclaimed flustered.
"Tch, do you take me for a fool?" the shorter male retorted, his anger growing by the seconds. He snapped his fingers and a feminine shadow, fell from the roof, landing behind him she thrusts her blade at him. Not thinking about what he was doing, he instinctively dodged and kicked her into the stomach to knock her out. Her comrade who tried to catch her crashed onto the floor and fainted.
One more to go, the tall man ran into his last assailant's, probably the mastermind, direction. A smirk, "As expected," a chuckle "but did you, really think I didn't have a plan B?" the man said mockingly.
Wait, this line does it mean, shifting his body to the left, he dodged his fourth's assailant's attack, a bullet. Grabbing their wrist, he took possession of his aggressor's firearms before aiming it at their stomach and firing once, successfully killing them. Using the now dead body as a human shield, he rushed toward his last aggressor.
Pistol in hand, he deducted from the model and its weight he had two shots left. Aiming above his shield's shoulder, he shot, a bullet went straight through the short male's skull.
Safe, for now, he was safe.
Steadying his breath, he decided to hide the bodies. Frisking them, he found a second charged firearm in the shorter male's jacket and a dagger in the one he had killed first. Looking behind, he found his other two aggressors, limp on the ground but still breathing.
What to do, should I kill them too? He wondered.
He decided against it, after all, he didn't know them nor was he familiar with his situation, shooting people randomly wouldn't help in the future. Retrieving each of his assailants' black leather belt, he tied the two limp bodies' wrists and legs together before gaging them with one of their dead comrade's white dress shirt. Taking all of their arms and blades, he hid the two living bodies behind a pile of trash. They shouldn't wake up before noon. Even then, since he tied them to each other, they shouldn't be able to move around freely.
Taking in his surrounding, he glanced at his watch, 08:56 am. He should hurry, who knows when someone will come into this alley.
Lifting the man who had tried to shot him, he dumped his body into the large trash container. Taking out the smaller body's lighter, he tossed him in the same way and lit a cigarette he had taken from the short man, casting it in the trash, he successfully started a fire. Creating a small hole in its lid with one of the daggers to let the oxygen in, he closed it and turned around.
Slowly making his way to the more crowded area of the city, he arranged his attire to seem more proper and hid his newly acquired weapons. Dumping two guns on the way and only keeping their bullets, he analyzed his situation. For instance, he should find a place to settle his thoughts.
Palping his coat's pocket, he found his phone and wallet, 5 000€ in cash and three credit cards, not much when you don't know your situation nor your credit cards' code. Putting it back into his inner coat's pocket, he took out his phone. Judging from the language and the streets' name, he was probably in Italy. Where in Italy? He didn't know, yet.
Scrolling through the cell phone's contact info, he stumbled upon another problem. The contacts' names weren't names but numbers, #001, #002, #003 etc. Only one name was displayed: Boss.
From the looks of it, this "Boss" must be important.
Another dead end, he couldn't look up nor call people he didn't know the name of and calling his "Boss" when he didn't know who he was, was a no-go. At least he had one lead, Yucca. If his gut feeling was right, Yucca was a guy who looked like him and who was in deep trouble. In the worst-case scenario, it was him.
Sighing, he passed his right hand through his hair, ruffling them slightly he closed his eyes. What to do?
::
09:34 am, Sicily, he was in Sicily. After coming across many different streets, he guessed he was in Palermo, Sicily. In other words, the heart of Cosa Nostra. Well shit, it looks like his doppelganger has angered one of these mafioso, or like they know of him.
Gathering his thoughts, he slumped into his chair and took a sip of his espresso. He was in a small coffee shop, not too far from the more touristic areas. The place was picturesque but nonetheless agreeable. All in all, it was the perfect place to settle his thoughts.
Last time he checked, his name was Koro, the name his students gave him. He taught at Kunugigaoka Junior High School, in Japan. Was a giant yellow octopus ready to explode at any given moment? And should have been dead, assassinated by his whole class.
As for his current situation, his body was not one of a yellow octopus. He was in Sicily, Italy and alive, for now. A guy, he didn't know, who went by the name of Yucca looked like him, a lot. This person had some enemies who wanted him dead, and if not for these strange visions he had after waking up he would have probably perished a second time.
Visions? What were they anyway? Taking another sip of his drink, he mentally shook his head, no use dwelling over them, after all, they did save his life. For now, planning, planning was after all the key to success.
::
{???, ???}
In an apartment complex, on the top floor, a boy, no older than 10 slumped on a black leather couch. A bag of freshly open marshmallow in hand, he stared at his phone which rested on the coffee table in front of him.
A call, he was waiting for a call. Although he knew his brother wouldn't be able to contact him, he still hoped that maybe, maybe he would call him. After all, he had promised.
Taking a deep breath, he braced himself, in approximately 3 minutes the Italian police would call him and announce his brother's death.
Nothing, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 30 minutes had passed and still nothing. Had Yucca escaped from the clutches of death? But then, why did he not call? So many unwanted questions swirled in his mind.
Call him, yes, he should be the one calling him. After all, if his brother is still alive, he would have no reason to deny his call.
Stealing his nerves, he slowly took his phone and unlocked it. Putting his marshmallow bag down between his folded legs, he went to his contact list. His finger hovered over the contact's name, Nii-chan, for a few seconds before hesitantly clicking on it.
Ring, Ring, Click.
"Hello?" a voice tentatively asked.
Hearing his beloved brother, the teen beamed "Yucca-nii-chan!" he greeted "Mou, why didn't you call me, I was worried." he continued in a pouty voice.
"Ah." was the only response he got. He frowned, the answer wasn't as enthusiastic as he would have liked it to be. "Um, how are you doing Boss?" the voice asked, unsure. Boss? Since when was he, Boss? He wondered.
"Brother," the teen trailed off, "if it's a joke it's not funny," he said seriously this time. "I was, really scared when you didn't call me." The concern in his voice was evident as he squeezed one of the big fluffy purple pillows closer to his chest.
"I see," the voice answered quietly, perhaps he felt the teen's concern, but his voice became considerably softer when he continued. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to worry you." his voice went down, "I-I was a bit tired," he admitted. "I planned on calling you later today, or tomorrow."
"I understand," the teen nodded. "you didn't forget me right?" he inquired, his voice tinted with sadness and concern.
"O-of course not," the older male answered flustered, "I would never forget you," the voice trailed off.
"Ran-chan..." the teen muttered, eliciting a hum from the other male to show he didn't hear him. "You didn't call me Ran-chan once..." he said, this time a little louder while sulking. "You should be coaxing me more Yucca-nii-chan!" he whined, "you're the one in the wrong, not me."
"Ri-right," the voice stuttered, "I'm very sorry Ran-chan." the teen huffed to show his disapproval. "Ran-sama?" the male asked tentatively.
"What," Ran answered, curtly. "I don't talk to irresponsible big brothers," he announced sternly. A chuckle was heard on the other side of the line.
"Right, right, of course, Ran-sama is right," the older male answered a hint of laughter in his voice. "this servant can't apologize enough to Ran-sama." he finished submissively.
Good evening, good morning, I hope you enjoyed "CLOUDY's" first chapter.
To be honest, I'm grateful to whoever is reading this. It means a lot to me. There may be some spelling or grammar mistakes if so don't hesitate to point them out I won't mind. (As a matter of fact, I'll be grateful)
As for the Canon characters, Koro/Yucca will meet them by the end of the second chapter, the beginning of the third chapter.
Thank you again, until next time.