Chapter Text
POV : Atsushi
A beast.
That was what they all called me as I left the school. That was all they called me. Other's had no words to say as they didn't even dare to look at my face. They were frightened of me.
I was frightened of myself.
They all had a right to be scared. Who wouldn't? A kid just turned into a tiger, covered in red, slashed everyone in sight. They would.
Many of the students looked at me and shouted "Beast!!" and "Monster!!" while I walked through the halls after what had happened.
They all wanted me gone. Out of sight. Away from them where I couldn't cause any harm to them whatsoever.
That's what they had come to. They had me transferred to a school where they had told me I would "find others like me". It was a school full of ability users. I didn't think of myself as an ability user. More like someone cursed with a horrid creature inside them.
I walked towards what used to be my dorm. They kicked me out of there since I wasn't part of the school anymore, but assured me of a newer one in the other school.
I didn't have any family to go to. The school Headmaster had found me and had taken me in, giving me a dorm to stay in since I was a kid.
I no longer had that. He was frightened of me too.
I gather my boxes. They weren't huge ones. I only had my clothes and a few of my belongings that I wanted to bring with me.
I hear a knock on the door. It must've been the Headmaster of the ability school. "Come in" I tell them. They open the door and I peek at the front. There was a man, dressed in traditional green clothing and silver hair going onto his shoulders, alongside someone who seemed to be a student of the academy. I made a guess as he seemed to be wearing a uniform.
"You must be Atsushi Nakajima, correct?" He asks me. "Y-yes... I am..." I replied back, quite nervous and my voice scratchy. I hadn't talked a lot in a while. "I am Yukichi Fukuzawa, headmaster of the Ability Academy." He looks beside him and back up at me. "This is the Student Council President, Ranpo Edogawa." "It's a pleasure to meet you both!" I bow to both of them quickly.
"A pleasure to meet you too. We both know of your recent situation and fully know what you are going through, I've seen many things like this happen several times in my years at the academy. Even if your case might be different, I understand." His face made him seem like a cold man, but he was being very kind to me. I couldn't help but thank him.
"Thank you sir! I'm incredibly sorry if I have caused any trouble to you...!" "No, no. It's all fine. there's no need to be sorry. If you're ready we can make our way to the academy now." I nod my head. The longer I stay here, the more the words rattle my head. All I hear are those words.
The Headmaster and the boy walk out the door, I follow them from behind. We make it to their car and open the trunk for me to put my stuff into. I quickly go after the boy, Ranpo and get into the car.
On our way, Ranpo speaks to me. "I know you're worrying a whole bunch, don't sweat it. You'll do better here." He hands me a lollipop and I hesitantly take it, thanking him.
I look down at my feet, not taking Ranpo's advice at all. What if they all end up hating me there too..? Will I ever get to feel like a normal human being again? I stare at my hands, which were once claws. It scares me to just even look at myself anymore. The beast that I once was.
"We're here." I hear from the front of the car. I hop out, looking at the academy. It was quite large, incredibly large. I looked lost just by looking at it. Ranpo hits my back and I stumble forwards, holding it. "It's not thaaaat confusing to look at, kid! It's merely more dorms than the actual school!"
First off, who was he calling kid!? He seemed to look and act younger than me and he's calling me the kid! Second, how did he end up knowing my exact thoughts!? However... he is the Student Council President anyways...
The two lead me to the headmaster's office. The walk there was really nice, there was a pretty garden surrounding the inner and outer sides of the school with many cherry blossom trees around. Many of the students were also enjoying there time outside. I couldn't help but smile at how beautiful and lively the place was.
The office was no different. Well decorated and large as well. The Headmaster had told me to sit on the chair while Ranpo sat on his desk, eating a bar of chocolate. There was never a second where I saw his hand empty and not munching on something.
"So, Nakajima, I would like you to know about your own ability before anything as it is my top priority to not just keep others safe, but as well as you. With much research and knowledge brought from Ranpo, your ability to turn into a tiger is in fact a powerful one." The Headmaster had begun to say. I nodded at each statement he made.
"However, my question to you is if you are able to control the tiger in any way." I shake my head. "What happened when the tiger took full conscious of you?" I cleared my throat before speaking, not wanting it to be scratchy as before.
"It's all a blur, really" I look down at my feet again. "I just remember how I felt everything black out, everyone around me was screaming or yelling but I was terrible confused. I didn't think that the tiger was taking my consciousness, rather I felt that I was going to pass out. When I woke up my head was hurting and I thought I was still at the spot I was standing before." I clenched my fists as I spoke. The thought of all this just made me want to curl up into a ball and disappear from everyone's sight.
"That's quite interesting" Ranpo says, his leg crossed over his other while his head was in his hand. "Well, we'll get to know more if we do more research about it, if you don't mind that is." "No, I don't mind... I would like to know as well..."
There was a bit of silence in the room before Ranpo spoke up again. "Anyways! Don't ya think we should show him to his dorm room!" "Ah, yes. Ranpo, please take him and show him around as you do. Don't get distracted." Ranpo sighs in agreement. "Okay..."
Ranpo then drags me along with him and we leave the office. I looked around at the halls. The windows were huge, letting a lot of sunlight in and making it bright in the halls.
"You're not much of a talker, now are you" I hear Ranpo say clearing me out of my thoughts. I shake my head. At my old school, before everything, I was just a kid that didn't stand out in a crowd at all. Not many wanted to talk to me, some did.
Ranpo spoke again, "anyway, you'll get your schedule in a bit, you can hang out in your dorm as long as you want until then. Oh yeah, you have a roommate you share it with. Hope that doesn't bother you much." "No... That's alright with me..." "Awesome!"
We walk through the hall together, many students walking past. The school really was lively even if it was after school hours. I look around at many of the students, there were a lot of people who caught my eye. A tall, brunette supposedly teasing a shorter ginger. A shy looking guy with a lot of books in his hands who Ranpo had waved to. A weird, braided white hair guy with someone with black shortish hair... I could go on and on about the people here.
However, there was one specific person who caught my eye the most.
I don't know why but he seemed somewhat like me, a hunch maybe.
I saw him through the glass window of the library. He was by himself, sitting in the corner while reading a book. Black hair fading into a white at the end. His eyes looked small, and tired.
I don't know how to explain it, but I felt that we were quite similar in a way. That could just be me and my head.