"S***, s***, s***… run, run, run!"
Two boys found themselves running in the hallway as they were being chased by a giant goldfish towering over them, with human limbs and a wall-eyed face as it barreled after them. They reached a crossroad and looked at each other.
"What should we do?"
"Quick, split up!" one of them shouted. One darted left and the other right. Just then the goldfish stood in the middle where the boys had split up, and suddenly its body began to morph as it split into two identical parts and chased after each boy.
The boy who went right found it hard to escape the giant goldfish as it almost caught up to him in a matter of seconds. Suddenly - swoosh - he braced himself for the strike of the goldfish, expecting it at any moment, but instead he unexpectedly found himself in the sky. By the time he looked up, he saw he was being carried by a humanoid dragon lady. She gave him a warm smile.
"I finally found you, my dear husband."
Seeing this, the boy shuddered as he recalled a certain memory he was not so fond of.
On the other hand, the boy who went left had managed to outrun the giant goldfish and buy himself a few meters. However, just as he was about to take another turn, he was blocked by countless men in black wielding futuristic sci-fi gadgets, blocking his path.
"Did you really think you could escape without us catching up to you eventually?" the leader said.
"Wait, I don't think now is the time. Can't you se-" The boy tried to explain, but it was too late. The leader brought out the railgun with him. As he was about to shoot, the boy's face paled. However, in the very next moment - BOOM - the sky exploded and began to fall like shards of glass. Piercing through the broken fragments of reality, an eldritch being poked its head into the world as it looked down. Its presence caused everything around it to shudder in horror. Every creature - human or otherwise - instantly understood this was the end of the world as they knew it.
However, to understand how things reached this dire predicament, you would have to go back a month, where everything started.
---
"Hello, young lad, do you want to test my powder recipe?" an old woman said as she approached, smiling sheepishly with a crooked row of teeth wide open.
She stepped in the way of a tall high-schooler with a sharp, sporty cut - volume on top, short sides, slightly longer messy strands that stick up naturally. He wore an all-black school uniform with high collars and a pair of golden cufflinks attached to the sleeves at either wrist.
Shinpachi was at a loss for words as he scratched the back of his head. "I don't know, ma'am… I'm a bit late for classes."
It was a bright Monday morning, and Shinpachi - a tall high-schooler with a distinct fade haircut - was just heading to the new school he had enrolled in after moving. Not only was he late on his first day, he was being confronted by what he believed to be a senile old woman. For this, he had no idea what to do.
"Why are you looking at me like that? It's just one sniff," the woman said with a wide grin.
Shinpachi shook his head as he looked at her with a pitiful but sentimental expression. "Old lady… aren't you too old to be doing drugs?"
Smack!
As soon as he said that, the old woman slapped him across the face with the umbrella she was holding.
"Hey - what was that for?" he said, holding the side of his face.
"Son of a whore! Young bastard, are you calling me a drug addict?" the old lady lashed out.
"No, no, no, I would never! I'm just saying I didn't expect a matured person like yourself to be pushing cocaine at this early hour."
Smack!
"Your mother will push cocaine, idiot! Does this look like cocaine to you?"
"Ummm… does this look like drugs?" Shinpachi rubbed his chin as he thought of the possibility. "Well - a tray of white powder being advertised in the middle of the road? I don't know, seems like drugs to me. Specifically cocaine. That said, I might be wrong, but I'll stick to my intuition."
"Wrong!" The woman smacked him on the shin with her umbrella.
Smack!
"Ouch!"
"Here - smell it, and tell me if it smells like cocaine."
Shinpachi took a small whiff as he thought. "Although I've never smelled cocaine before, so I don't really know how it smells, but I imagine this is it- and you know what they say: if it looks like coke, smells like coke, then it probably is co-"
Smack!
He was hit again before he could finish.
"Hey, old woman! What the hell did I do to you? Did I offend you in a past life or something?" Shinpachi protested, but the old woman just waved him off.
"Get lost, kid. I don't need someone like you critiquing my business. Go-get lost."
Seeing the woman turn away and clearly making it obvious she didn't want to speak further, he could only shrug his shoulder and continue walking to school. Just as he left the premises, a dark silhouette came out from the woman's shadow, turning and looking in the direction Shinpachi had gone.
"Do you think he knows? And if he does, what gave us away? Could he be one of them?" the shadow asked.
The old lady shook her head. "He's just a regular person. I admit he has some good intuition, but unfortunately for him, he's dumb. If he were smart, he wouldn't have fallen for that. After all-he already sniffed it, didn't he? Unlike the previous version, this one doesn't require him to inhale too much for it to take effect. Even the smallest whiff is more than enough. Let's go. We'll be ready to claim our harvest tomorrow… once it has taken full effect."
---
Saint Tanaka High School
After the introductory and welcome sequence, Shinpachi went to take his seat. He was happy there was one reserved for him by the window. After keeping his bag by his side, he listened to the teacher continue the lesson, occasionally looking around the classroom as he memorized everyone's differences. He noticed another seat was empty. The only reason his own seat was reserved was because the school had been informed of his arrival in advance, so either they were also expecting another new student or that student wasn't present today.
When classes were over, Shinpachi went to the bathroom to use the toilet when he heard a commotion.
"You little prick! How many times have I told you to stop resisting? You only make it worse for yourself!"
Shinpachi entered the bathroom where he saw a group of five boys gathered around a young kid with a short, neat bowl-style haircut, soft edges, slightly longer front, bangs curving inward around his eyes. Clean, tidy-a bit retro. The kid was short and wasn't wearing a high-school uniform; one could've easily mistaken him for a middle-schooler. To top it all off he had a round wide brimmed glasses that make him appear a bit nerdy.
Sensing his presence, the group paused and turned to him. But only for a moment. Shinpachi didn't even spare the boy a second glance as he went into the stall to do his business. Moments later he walked back out, heading toward the exit.
Seeing this, they continued their assault.
"So, where were we… that's right. You've made us go through a lot of trouble looking for you all around the school. How do you intend to compensate? Well… as you know we're having a test in the second week of this month. You're gonna help us with the answers for that test. You're smart, so this shouldn't be a problem, am I right?" the leader asked. But the kid didn't respond.
He grabbed the boy's shirt. "You're a frustrating little prick, you know that? Hey - answer me when I'm talking to you!"
But the boy wasn't even looking at him.
"The f*** are you looking at?" the leader snapped as he followed the kid's gaze - only to see Shinpachi standing near the restroom door, watching the entire thing.
"Hey, you - do you need something?" the leader asked in irritation.
Shinpachi scratched the back of his head. "Oh - my bad. I guess I forgot my stuff. Lemme just grab it and I'll leave you guys to your business," he said as he walked back in, ignoring the group entirely as he stepped past the leader and stood in front of the bullied boy. He was about to offer his hand when the leader grabbed his shoulder.
"The f*** do you think you're doing?"
Shinpachi glanced sideways. "Remove your hand from my shoulder."
"Or what?" the leader scoffed. "So what if I don't? What are you gonna do about it?"
Shinpachi sighed and shrugged. "I thought so. Now, if you know what's good for you, you better - "
SMASH!
Before the leader could finish, a heavy fist collided with his face, sending him flying into the door. Shinpachi didn't give him a moment to breathe as he lunged forward and pounced on him.
"Wait - wait - wait -" the leader raised his hand to plead, but it was too late. Shinpachi continued delivering blow after blow, punching until his hand was covered in blood and the leader's face was covered in bruises and cuts.
Shinpachi stood up and looked at the other boys. Seeing what he had done to their now-unconscious leader, they all stepped back.
"Out," Shinpachi said, pointing at the door.
They nodded quickly and squeezed along the walls to avoid him. As soon as they reached the door, they bolted, mentally noting never to cross him again. One came back to drag the unconscious leader away before running off as well.
Shinpachi turned to the boy sitting on the floor and stretched out his hand.
"Hey… are you okay?"
The boy's eyes widened in surprise, his expression unreadable as he pointed at Shinpachi.
"Ah - you are…"