1 Failed Endeavour

[Dear diary, have you ever felt alone?]

Nagisa typed into his computer on a Google document.

He kicked back his chair to lean slightly backwards and pondered for a second.

[I have, and I think it is time for us to bid farewell, for this shall be my final entry for my pretend 'friend', whom only I could turn to.]

Nagisa resumed his typing.

[Much like yesterday, the same thing occurred once more, just like any other day, right on time. I didn't get lunch, else I would end up losing that as well. The beating and the scars or dripping blood, as you know, which I had gotten used to months ago even long before this new school when both my parents were alive and well.]

Nagisa chose to pause for a brief moment before moving on.

Details were of utmost importance for this specific entry. Nagisa took a deep breath before moving onto the more heavy parts of the story.

[However something else happened yesterday which has made me decide to fill in this final entry. I had always looked up to, or as you know had a crush on, May.]

[May's enchanting and velvet black hair or her crimson colored eyes, even her natural rose colored lips. She was quite the "treat" for the boys in our class and was made an idol. Furthermore she was also an exemplary student. Kind to all alike, even to someone like me, but only in the shadows. Any involvement with me could ruin her image. Understanding this she would still risk at times to extend that angelic smile and friendliness, and I think that is what has kept me alive for this long.]

Nagisa concluded his next paragraph before moving on.

[Nonetheless it was short-lived, my crush was found out, a page that was meant for you after school to fill had "slipped" into their hands after they had broken into my locker, careless, I know… Should have known they would resort to repeating past tactics. I was ridiculed after hiding successfully for once from their beating which cost me dearly today. The beating would have been heaven compared to the hell I felt once the entry was read out loud in the classroom during the closing minutes of lunch.]

Nagisa began to reminisce about all the pain he felt at the time.

[The laughter, May's embarrassment, my cheek being slapped her once I came out of hiding in a poor attempt to recover the stolen page, then they read it out even louder and tossed it around, in which even louder laughter followed shortly. I will not continue the story as it brings me to tears just to type it, dear old friend.]

Nagisa saved the final lines for his diary.

[Sorry for parting this way, you were the best electronic device and pretend friend I could have asked for. Take care old friend, Nagisa]

He typed in the final words of his entry and logged it.

Nagisa left with a saddened look, gazing one final time at his beloved desktop before leaving it and his computer behind. There was no need to bring it with him today for class.

He exited his dormitory room and stepped into the shower. As water came pouring down it felt refreshing.

"My last shower? Whoever said 'the final act of something is the moment in which you will miss or appreciate it the most' did not lie" Nagisa spoke aloud.

After a few more minutes of luxuriously added shower time than usual, Nagisa quickly got dressed into his school uniform. He hated the uniform with all his heart, it bore nothing but painful memories for him. Nagisa then proceeded to head to the fridge to take out the sushi he had made the previous night and stored.

"My final meal and drink, my two favorites. Think I am going to miss you as well!" Nagisa uttered while opening a can of coke zero.

It was his favorite drink, even though it wasn't complimentary to the sushi, Nagisa thought he would combine the two for once. A new combination of the two to say farewell to his old and beloved custom.

"I will be going now… goodbye…" Nagisa waved to his apartment as he took his final leave. Pretending he had a family around to hear him leaving.

"Ha-ha… I finally do not need to say 'Welcome home!' to myself once I get back home," Nagisa laughed on the brink of tears at his own poor excuse of a joke.

* * *

At school, Nagisa had arrived just in time, early as planned to prepare his final moments. He reached for the inside of his pockets, for a small pencil box and took out a tiny needle.

"Time to decorate my honorable mentions!" Nagisa smiled, however behind the smile there was nothing but sorrow and pain filtered with a vengeful lust.

He pierced deeply into his index finger for it to bleed nicely, then proceeded to walk towards the whiteboard with the blood dripping on the floor.

"A B C D… no matter teacher or classmate you are going up… E F G H… if you have wronged me in the past… I J K L… for repentance is key… M N O P… in order to atone… Q R S T… for what you have caused… U V W X Y Z… me…" A mischievous Nagisa grinned and sang.

It was in honoring to those who had wronged him. He colored the whiteboard with all the names ranging from A-Z to make sure no one would feel excluded that participated in any act towards him in the past.

Nagisa took a deep breath as he filled the final name with much regret, "May", he spoke out loud whilst writing it.

"Alright, the scene is set, time to harmlessly wait by sitting next to the third floor open window by my desk for my beloved classmates to arrive," Nagisa sang and whistled the composed song.

He had the perfect outlook on students arriving at the school in the form of the masses. People were chatting, and friends were laughing, all approaching his set "masterpiece".

Chit-chatter was heard right outside the classroom before everyone came in. It was time. People screamed, hence the whiteboard was the first thing you could see.

May was one of the first one's heard. Her legs went weak and she crumbled on the ground at the sight of dried blood on the whiteboard and started to cry.

"What the f…" Ayato reacted briefly before Miyuki had him interrupted mid-sentence.

"NAGISA! You sick bastard, I should've known you were a fucking psychopath!" Miyuki roared out.

Miyuki was always quick to catch on to things. He was the only one who immediately looked for Nagisa and noticed him hanging by the window at the opposite corner.

"Explain yourself Nagisa!" Sakai demanded abruptly.

Nagisa turned his head and smiled, then spat towards them. He then made a child-like gesture by sticking his tongue out to taunt them on.

Miyuki rolled up his sleeves, "That is it, we have about five minutes to spare beating you up before the teacher arrives." He attempted to approach Nagisa.

"Wait!" Ayato blocked Miyuki's path.

Miyuki glared back instantly at Ayato.

"Remember what we said not inside the classroom, or we risk being expelled," Ayato tried calming Miyuki down.

"Do you not see the damn board there? It has your fucking name on it, as well as mine, and even May's name is on it for heaven's sake!" Miyuki explained.

"Not only that, it also has all the teachers who turned a blind eye to all of this! If this gets leaked we are all through anyway! I am just going for a final beatdown before he is out of reach, you hear me?" Miyuki angrily concluded.

Nagisa laughed and everyone looked at him.

"Leave it to Miyuki, smart enough to figure it out, I have left enough evidence lying around that you will not be able to erase it before the police get here anyway!" Nagisa dried his tears from laughing too hard with his left hand.

"That is it, I am breaking his left arm to make the freak right handed like the rest of us," Miyuki rushed towards Nagisa.

"Sorry to save you the trouble Miyuki, but this is where we bid farewell,"

Nagisa grinned once more and started tilting over the window, backwards to initiate his fall.

"Quick catch him Miyuki, if he dies we are all toast, at least it will be his word against all of ours in court!" Ayato screamed at Miyuki who was already sprinting.

Miyuki, who was athletic, leaped forward at godspeed and grabbed one of Nagisa's arms.

"Got you freak, you ain't going down on me that easily, not before I beat you to pulp you won't," Miyuki furiously rejoiced and sadistically smiled.

"Sorry again, but you lose," Nagisa grinned broadly a final time.

Nagisa then pulled the hidden needle out of his inner pocket and stabbed Miyuki's hand, right in the middle of a vein so he would automatically let go.

"Fuck! The fucking freak just stabbed me!" Miyuki yelled in pain and let go of Nagisa.

"Shit, quick catch him with your other arm!" Ayato screamed once he reached the window.

Miyuki tried his best, but failed and both their fingertips met then slipped off each other. Nagisa continued to laugh and bask in his short lived victory. Revenge was served, too bad he would fail to see their actual unavoidable punishment and what lives they would lead after today's events.

He closed his eyes listening to Miyuki's unrelenting and repetitive use of the word "Fuck" fading more and more the further the distance between the two of them increased. The only thing he regretted, was he had to trade his life for his revenge to make these bastards pay.

"Wait, what is this light?" Ayato spoke out.

"What the…" Miyuki followed and both started to fade.

Nagisa himself became blinded by it, "What… could they see me in my afterlife as well, or what kind of joke are they pulling here?" He shook his head in disbelief mid-air.

However the light was too radiant and forced Nagisa's eyes wide open. The environment became loud and lively, and a lot of familiar voices began to stream through Nagisa's ears as the strong light began to dissipate.

"What is happening?"

"What is going on?"

A lot of people were asking the same thing over and over. All of the sudden a clear voice spoke out loud.

"Welcome heroes, saviors of our world!" An unfamiliar voice welcomed them.

And everything suddenly became clear. Nagisa was surrounded by his classmates and his neighbouring classes. They were all clustered together in an old cathedral.

Miyuki immediately smiled and rushed over to knock down Nagisa on his feet, then began to punch him at full force repeatedly. Nagisa coughed out blood. Guards rushed in and intervened to pull them apart, then lanced their weapon towards Miyuki's throat.

"Do you warrant a death sentence?" A guard asked.

Miyuki shook his head with a grin.

"Good, then behave yourself, and explain as to why you would beat the guy over there," One of the guards told him.

He filled them in, and Nagisa was separated from the group at a safe distance. Miyuki spat out nothing but lies. He was always cunning and every teacher's favorite. People quieted down rapidly after grasping the situation and let Miyuki represent them, even the neighbouring classes remained silent.

"Nonetheless, none of your pasts interest us, let us brief you as to why you have been summoned here today," The bishop spoke.

It was clear from his ceremonial clothing that he was different from the guards surrounding him and most likely was a bishop or a priest of sorts.

He explained how humanity had suffered at the hands of demons for centuries and had now walled themselves in but rifts were spawned and shadow tournaments were held. Through the randomly appearing and open rifts is how demons commonly pass through and claim multiple victims each year and threaten their peace. Moreover how the shadow tournament was a lost cause, but participation was required to funnel the "Ancestral Grail".

After he had finished speaking, the bishop now allowed time for questions and all the guards lowered their weapons.

"Why can we understand your language?" One of the students asked.

The bishop indicated towards the bracelets around people's wrists. The bracelets had somehow been put on them during their summon. They were funneled with ancestral magic which allowed languages to be translated and understood in between the human race. However they were only temporary, we had to learn the language within a year he explained.

"Why should we aid you?" Miyuki immediately butted in next.

"If you wish to return, the answer lies behind the defeat of the demons, as they are the origin of inter-wordly teleportation," The bishop explained.

"Do we have to?" A timid girl added.

"If you wish. You can lead a normal life here. It is up to you, whether you would like to practice magic and help yourselves, else daily manual labor or other similar productive activities await you. We will not sponsor any non-willing students at our magic academy," The bishop furthered his explanation.

Miyuki laughed, "We get to practice magic, you say, and you will sponsor us?" He turned to the bishop who nodded in response.

"Then why the hell would we not enjoy this unique opportunity," Miyuki now manically laughed out.

People slightly distanced one step away from him in response.

"Ayato, Sakai and the rest of you… join me, I say we shall help cleanse this world and venture on this god given journey instead of resuming the mundane and boring lives we once lead!" Miyuki turned around multiple times and convinced them, one by one.

People rejoiced and agreed then gathered around Miyuki to discuss.

"Silence! All of you will shortly be escorted to the great hall where you will meet the king. Listen carefully, you must bow, then you shall be examined by the royal queen herself and the finest magical orb to identify and manifest your magic abilities," The bishop instructed the arrived group of supposed 'heroes' or 'saviors'.

Miyuki grinned widely with an ulterior motive, he already had an agenda in mind, "Lead the way!" Miyuki signaled with his hands.

And there was the act coming alive. The one who had enchanted every teacher at our school to turn a blind eye to every other crime Miyuki committed when they were not looking.

The entire group marched out of the cathedral to which they were summoned and made their way through a secret passage. The bishop mentioned during their march that the cathedral's passage was connected to the royal palace.

Miyuki glanced back at Nagisa and gave off the usual and much familiar signs:

"Once this is done, I will come for you to settle our unfinished business".

Miyuki made the signs with a double masked innocent and fake buddy-like smile. Following with a small waving hand gesture and a grin at the corner of his right lip, unraveling his future mischievous plans.