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Toge glanced over his new classmates as Karasuma’s voice washed over him. “This is your new classmate. Technically speaking, he’s your senpai by a year, but the government will be having him here as backup, as well as to make sure of your safety. His name is Inumaki Toge, and his preferred method of speaking is unique, so otherwise he’ll communicate by text. Any questions?”
His violet eyes watched curiously as some stared at him in confusion, some in outrage, and some calm.
“What can he do that we can’t? He’s only a year older!”
Karasuma grimaced. “His situation is.. unique, but you will understand in time. His purpose here is to make sure you are safe by all means necessary. If he wants to tell you, he will, but don’t bother him about it.”
“Inumaki.” The agent called. Toge always liked him better than the others. He had been the only one who didn’t see it fit to muzzle him to prevent him from speaking when he was younger. He was just lucky that they had developed a fabric that would prevent him from making claims as long as it was over his mouth. They didn’t even need to tie it around it either, so he could get by with a high collar that surrounded his face too.
“Kelp.”
He couldn’t help but notice that more people were confused, whispering about ‘kelp’.
“He tends to speak in onigiri ingredients, but do note that the words he speaks has actual meanings if you’re willing to understand them.”
Toge nodded. “Salmon, salmon.”
“Now then, I’ll leave you to have a chat. Behave.” Karasuma left, and all too soon Toge was a bit crowded.
“Hey, why don’t you speak.. Er- actual words?”
He blinked, frowning behind the collar. “..Seaweed.” Well, maybe his introduction was lacking, but Karasuma had always been the one to tell him about boundaries and that he could have those. Maybe, it had something to do about that, and leaving it up to him to say?
Toge made an exaggerated thinking motion, before holding his hand out and using his pointer finger to point at his palm and ‘write’.
A blue-haired (boy? girl?) lit up in realization. “Oh! Did you want something to write with?”
He nodded. “Salmon!”
They(?) pulled out a notepad and pen, and he quickly wrote down an answer.
Giving it back, the person read it out loud. “‘Bad things happen if I speak certain words without careful consideration.. Also, are you a boy or a girl? I don’t want to misgender you!’ Oh, I’m a boy. Call me Nagisa. And.. what do you mean exactly?” The boy had a pinched expression, as if there might be some other meaning that could sound very bad out of context.
Being handed it back, Toge hesitated. He hadn’t really had the opportunity to make friends his age, but after this he’d likely end up in isolation again until the next big thing happens and they need him, so he decided to be blunt about it.
Nagisa read it out loud once more. “Explode equals an actual drawing of an explosion.. This is just a word equaling what it does. Or.. Does that mean you can actually..?” He looked at him in wonder, and Toge couldn’t help but lower himself further into his collar in nervousness.
Since he hadn’t offered to show an example, or elaborate after that, most of them seemed not to really believe him, or were too confused and didn’t understand what he meant.
They wouldn’t until the first time he ends up showing his ‘ability’, or curse, really.
Toge curled his fists so tight that the nails were digging into his palms, and there was a tenseness in his shoulders. His heart beat like a drum at the sound of Takaoka-shishou’s voice, and all he could do was curse mentally. A P.E. Teacher. He almost wanted to laugh, but he didn’t want to do anything to attract Takaoka-shishou’s attention.
Once upon a time, the government had relied on him to keep Toge in line while he was still struggling with his voice. He hated it.
The class is brought outside, where Takaoka-shishou starts his whole spiel about being the dad, and the new and very strict schedule.
The student who he believed to be Maehara-kouhai had protested, and he flinched when he heard the sound of the impact, unable to bring himself to watch.
“Toge, you agree with my methods, right? You’ve been through it, so you know that my method is better than what they have right now, don’t you? I think they could use some lessons in obedience toward their father, don’t you?”
His breath hitched at being addressed, and he very slowly nodded. “..salmon.”
“Toge.”
“..H-Hai, otousan (father) .” Anything those words could’ve possibly done were negated by the fabric. Takaoka-shishou was always so confusing, sometimes wanting him to speak in his safe words, and otherwise in actual ones.
Some of his classmates were staring at him in horror at the realization of what that would’ve meant for him. He didn’t know why.
“Kanzaki, what about you? Don’t you agree with me too?”
Kanzaki-kouhai, instead, smiled stiffly and shook her head. “..I prefer Karasuma-sensei’s teachings..”
She was slapped, and the force caused her to fall onto the ground. (What is he meant to do here? They should stop resisting, it’ll all be better if they just listen, but.. Wasn’t he meant to be here to prevent any harm to the students? But they sent Takaoka-shishou. He hated conflicting orders.)
He felt too out of his depth here, and noticed Karasuma and Korosensei (which they had dubbed the octopus monster) arrive, angry.
They couldn’t do anything, and he grimly realized that this was up to him . If he messed up, he’d be punished. But they were just teenagers! At least it was familiar to him, but to them?
..But Karasuma..
He’d pick Karasuma over Takaoka-shishou anyday.
He gave a subtle nod, before pulling the collar down. “ Yameru (halt)! ” This caused Takaoka-shishou to freeze, though he looked furious.
If he didn’t know any better, the rest of the class almost looked as if they were under his command too, staring at him in shock. He knew it’d be like this.
Grimacing, he spoke another. “Nigete. (run away)” This one was weaker, giving them a push to actually get away from Takaoka-shishou, but put him on more strain, and he coughed.
Korosensei’s tentacles wrapped around the students and brought them to safety, while Karasuma ran straight for Takoaka-shishou and got him immobilized.
Toge covered his mouth once more, and walked over to Korosensei to make sure that they were all safe, and there was now a tension between them, as if they didn’t know what to say.
He bowed at a 45° angle. “Mustard leaf. ..Gomenasai.” The last word came out awkward and almost as quiet as a whisper, but they still heard it, and ended up getting out of their shock and reassuring him that it was okay, and that it was cool, and everything.
The boy looked away before they could see him almost cry at the nice gestures, and made a so-and-so motion with his hand. “..Salmon roe.”
For the most part, there was no other reason for him to use his voice, (besides their assassination attempts) , until the island thing happened.
He felt useless when it was revealed what had happened, when the caller had demanded for him , and Kayano-kouhai. To go to the hotel and bring Korosensei. (How’d they know, though? ..But they were the person who poisoned the other students. They would’ve had some sort of foresight, especially considering that they knew their names.)
For now, he’d trust in Karasuma.
When they made it into the hotel, Irina-sensei (or Bitch-sensei as the class has taken to calling her) distracted the guards in the lobby by acting as a pianist, and seducing them. (Toge wondered if his voice would be capable of doing something similar, but he feared the government would end up abusing that power if he could.)
Making it up the floors, Teraska-kouhai and Muramatsu-kouhai had run past Karasuma at the small number of guards.
Long story short, one of the ‘guests’ intervened and shot out some sort of gas. Karasuma, having had some sort of foresight, had pushed them away and ended up engulfed.
Fuwa-kouhai deduced that that guy had been the one to poison them, and as such the ‘guest’ revealed themselves to be a hired hit man.
Before the man could get too far though, Karasuma knocked him out. Of course, now it meant that they were down a competent adult, as Karasuma wouldn’t be able to do much now as he’d been affected by the gas, for the most part becoming slightly immobilized.
He’d have to make sure to use his voice, although he feared that he’d end up hitting his limit too early. It seemed there would be multiple enemies to face.
The next ‘guest’ they encountered was.. Someone strong. This time, he trusted in Akabane-kouhai, who he’d recognized as a threat, someone who wouldn’t go down easily. If they were going to fight with ‘honor’ then he wouldn’t intervene. Who knew what that guy could do without any restraint.
His breath hitched when the ‘guest’ had used the same gas that had immobilized Karasuma on Akabane-kouhai, and he cursed under his breath before pulling down the collar. In his panic, he quick-fired commands. Who knew what that guy could do? “Yamete! (Stop it!) Neru! (Sleep!)”
One of the students ran in to grab Akabane-kouhai, but said student had turned out to be fine, having covered his mouth with a napkin, to his relief.
The guest on the other hand full on collapsed, dead asleep.
Toge trembled slightly with the force of the command, cursing himself in hindsight by putting too much power into it by yelling. He covered his mouth, coughing while the others stopped to talk to Akabane-kouhai to try and keep people from noticing the backlash. Wiping his mouth on reflex, he was thankful his sleeves were dark enough for the blood to be too noticeable.
They continued on.
On the sixth floor is a bar that Ritsu pointed out, where the girls need to go on their own to let the group proceed further, and Nagisa-kouhai had joined them because he’d be able to blend in, but would be able to protect them should he need to.
Luckily enough, they didn’t face any trouble there.
The next floor housed two guards, and he watched carefully as Terasaka-kouhai seemed to have a plan.
Kimura-kouhai lured the guards over, and Terasaka-kouhai and Muramatsu-kouhai tackled them and electrocuted them with stun rods. He was relieved that all of them wouldn’t all be too difficult to deal with on their own.
There turned out to be guns, or revolvers to be more specific, on the guards, and so Korosensei entrusted them to Chiba-kouhai and Hayami-kouhai. That was all of note there.
The next led them to a concert hall, and they end up having to hide behind the seats from a guy. Based on looks, he stood out, and someone they’d directly encounter alone. Based on that, he’d assume that it was the third hired gun.
This wasn’t someone they could easily take down, unless he’d take a risk and Toge stopped him from moving, but they had no idea how many were left. For the most part, Toge was the trump card here, considering the rest of the group consisted of teenagers, an immobilized adult, and an immobilized Korosensei.
The first attempt tells them a lot . The guy was smart, able to pinpoint just where they had shot at. That isn’t good.
It’s soundproof too, so they’re effectively trapped and cornered.
His eyes narrowed as he carefully listened to Korosensei speak the start of a plan. ..He really doesn’t feel like he’s been able to do much himself.
Korosensei was able to effectively confuse the hit man by calling out certain ‘code names’ that only they would know and having them move around. He could only mentally sigh when he was called ‘Onigiri lover’, but to be fair, there were more invasive ones related to maid cafes..
They were able to take him down eventually, and he could only sigh in relief.
On the highest floor, Karasuma seemed to have been able to regain his movement and took down the last guard that remained, and they make it to the mastermind’s room.
It’s revealed to be Takaoka-shishou, and he seems less.. sane. Toge reassures himself mentally that it’s fine , because he can defend himself and the class without having to worry about the consequences.
But fuck. He was the one to humiliate him, and so it was technically his fault all this was happening.
His assassination attempt would’ve been to tie Kayano-kouhai up in a bathtub full of anti-sensei BBs, with Korosensei’s orb thing next to her, and then covering it in concrete. The only way for him to make it out without touching the BBs would be to explode the thing, but then it would end up injuring Kayano-kouhai. ..As morbid as it was, it was a good plan. Fuck.
“Toge. You cheated! I would’ve given them the chance to prove themselves whose teaching was superior, but you ! You don’t fight fair! You don’t even fight at all! ..C’mon.. Fight me like a real man! Just us! Or I’ll blow the whole building up sky-high! And you can say goodbye to any antidote that may be left… Answer! ”
“Inumaki-!” Karasuma attempted to intervene, but Toge ignored him. “..I’ll do it.” Although his voice was quiet, it felt like it had more of an impact with the way everyone had clearly heard him.
Takaoka led them to the rooftop, more specifically, him onto the helipad. To prevent anyone from stopping him, he blew up the stairs to the helipad, causing his panic to start rising, and he grimaced.
“Now. Apologize.”
“Eh?”
“Bow down and apologize! Apologize for humiliating me! For that day ! On your hands and knees. Apologize for pulling a dirty attack because you lack any real skill!”
Takaoka gave him mixed signals. First with wanting to fight, and then to instead apologize. He didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but..
…
He dropped down to his knees into a dogeza position. “..I’m sorry, otousan. For tricking you because I lack any real skill.”
Toge heard steps, but didn’t know what it would mean until he felt dread seeping his skin like the cold the second he felt Takaoka-shishou’s foot sit on top of his head.
“Oh, not to mention your blatant disrespect. You agreed with me, but when KaRASUmA arrives, YOU GO AGAINST ME! You use your voice! Tell me, is that any way for a brat to talk to an adult? Is that any way for a student to talk to his teacher!? A son to his dad!?”
“.It was wrong of me to talk to you, an adult, like I did. I sincerely apologize. I, a bratty student, do not know any better, and I’m sorry for doubting you.”
He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until he suddenly exhaled when Takaoka-shishou’s foot lifted.
“Now you’re speaking from the heart. Your dear old dad is pleased!”
Toge hesitantly lifted his head, retreating from his position to just on his knees.
“As a reward, I’ll let you in on a little something. I asked Smog what happens to people who die by the virus- he even showed me some pictures! Their bodies covered in boils, faces like grapes! Don’t you want to see that, Toge? ”
Takaoka-shishou threw the briefcase up, and he quickly stumbled to his feet, trying to reach for it.
At the click of a button, it exploded, and his breath hitched. No!
“I-I…” He could kill him. Right now. What was the point? He failed . All it would take was a word. Explode? Crush? Crumble? Blast away? Twist? He had more than enough lethal words that he could use. It would be so easy! And yet..
Terasaka-kouhai threw him one of his stun rods. “Hey! Don’t let yourself get arrested, dumbass! Who’s gonna be there to see us finally take down Korosensei, huh!? When we finally make it!?”
Toge stiffly nodded, picking it up. He’s scared he’ll end up using one of his kill words on Takaoka-shishou if he had the chance, so he doesn’t try to lower his collar.
Considering Takaoka-shishou is the one that has the most experience out of the two though, he finds himself getting beaten up quite a bit that he doesn’t have a choice otherwise than to create an opening.
He backs off, lowering the collar enough that he doesn’t have to worry about keeping it down, and starts to rapid-fire commands just in case. “Sutoppu, yamete, neru. (Stop, halt, sleep.)”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t have that much of an effect this time. Either because his throat is seriously starting to burn, or something else, but his moment stutters, he’s slightly sluggish, fuck.
Toge coughs up blood, much to the horror of those unaware of this backlash, though he doesn’t have much time to heave in painful breaths because Takaoka-shishou goes after him. “Stop CHEATING!”
Not having much time, he makes a decision. “ Fukitobasu! (Blow off/Blast away)”
It doesn’t hurt him lethally, but pushes him far away enough to give him a moment. He inhales and it burns .
He collapsed onto his knees, an unhealthy amount of blood dripping out of his mouth, as the pain wracked his body.
Takaoka-shishou laughed, turning to the crowd. “Even you can’t win with those dirty tricks of yours! See?! You all are just foolish children! See how strong I am!? You can’t hide behind Toge forever! This is what happens when you disobey!”
As a last ditch effort, he activated the stun rod and got him where the sun doesn’t shine, causing Takaoka-shishou to collapse as well, cursing multiple expletives.
He continued to cough, eyes closing tight in pain until he opened his eyes again just to see Karasuma hop on top of the railing and jump to the helipad, speaking many reassurances towards him and tying up Takaoka-shishou, while someone else had what he thought was Karasuma’s phone, seeming to be calling someone.
The rest of the night was blurry, but later after having some cough syrup and water, and being much more coherent, he was told that the guys they had fought earlier revealed that they had swapped out the real virus for a fake one, as they didn’t want to kill a bunch of kids.
Thank kami.
Nothing else like that happened, except when they had run out of time, so the government had spun some story about Korosensei being a villain and having brainwashed the students or something stupid like that, and trapped Korosensei in some sort of dome that’d be set to vaporize him.
Despite that, the class had come together and set up a group chat, probably doing something illegal by taking down the stationed guards there (not that they needed his help much, they were good all things considered.).
Although he wasn’t really meant to care, he did, and couldn’t help but end up crying when it became a group effort to take down Korosensei. The other students were holding his tentacles down, while Nagisa was in the middle with an anti-sensei knife.
When he was asked if he wanted to join, he shook his head, mentioning something about how he didn’t need the prize money anyway, but despite that, he was dragged in by someone. He couldn’t say who but it seemed like they all shared a consensus at the moment.
He fell down on the grass when Korosensei disappeared, trembling with his silent tears, yet he could hear the others crying around him.
When he woke up, he was at his desk. He couldn’t explain how it warmed his heart noticing the graduation album and everything that Korosensei had left them. That he had acknowledged him as his student too, and left him something. Just like all the others.
He couldn’t help it. He sobbed, careful to keep his tears away from the cover.
He didn’t know what’d happen next.
Toge ended up ‘retired’. To put it bluntly, Irina-sensei and Karasuma ended up together. Karasuma adopted him, and considering the cash he earned from killing Korosensei, could just live off of that (though he’s pretty sure Karasuma was just looking for a reason to stop him being forced to do the government's dirty work) .
..It was nice.