While everyone else is busy arguing over who the next four victims should be, I keep staring at what's left of the centipede's corpse. Poor thing probably didn't even want to fight. Maybe it just came here to bask in the sun and accidentally crashed through the roof.
Then I see something move.
I lean forward and focus.
A smaller centipede is crawling out of the monster's corpse, slow and careful.
"It's alive!"
I say it a little too loudly, my face lighting up before I can stop myself. But that feeling dies fast. The second anyone sees it, they're going to kill it. And after what they did to the big guy, I don't even want to think about what they'd do to the little one.
I push myself out of my seat, gathering whatever courage I can, and glance around to make sure no one's watching.
Good.
The students are still busy arguing, and Miss Maevis is reading a book like none of this has anything to do with her.
I quietly make my way toward the giant centipede's remains.
All those years of sneaking around, of trying not to be seen, of blending into the background, weren't for nothing. I got good at it. Good enough to spend an entire weekend moving around my apartment without my mom realizing I'm home. I've actually done that a couple of times just to mess with her. At this point, I don't know if I should be impressed with myself or creeped out by how little attention she pays to me. I'm honestly not sure she'd notice me even if I wore bells on my ankles and carried some huge flashing sign.
Meh. Whatever. No point thinking about that now.
I dart over to the corpse and crouch behind a massive lump of flesh. Then I glance back at the class.
Good. No one noticed me.
I turn back and search through the monster's mangled remains for movement. There. I spot it. The little centipede, slowly crawling through a tear in the flesh.
Poor guy isn't going to make it on its own.
The moment that thought hits me, I know I can't just sit there and do nothing. Not this time. I'm going to grab the little guy, hide him until class is over, then let him out somewhere safe.
That's the plan, anyway.
I can't exactly chase it all over the classroom, so I need to get this right.
Keeping low behind cover, I shift into place and wait for it to crawl close enough. Then I stay still, adrenaline buzzing through me.
I can't help smiling.
This is easily the most fun I've ever had at school.
The centipede gets closer.
I reach out.
Bingo.
I catch it before it even realizes I'm there. It writhes in my hand, and I flinch at the rough texture and the dozens of tiny, sharp legs scraping frantically against my skin. It's bigger than I thought, too. From far away it looked small, but up close it's about the size of a rat snake.
And I'm terrified of bugs.
Still, I don't let go.
Because if I do, it dies.
That centipede is the only ray of hope I've ever seen in my life. Just for a second, when it attacked Yashiro, it made me think maybe things could get better. Maybe things could change. I'm sure as hell not letting those hoes crush the only bit of hope I've got.
So I'm saving it. No matter what.
Because I've just realized it's not over yet. As long as there's even a little hope left in me, I can still fight back against the world. I can still claw out a place for myself in it.
Even if it kills me.
"Shhhh, stay quiet. I'll get you out of this, I promise. Just stay still for a few minutes."
The centipede keeps wriggling in my hand.
Okay. If I keep holding it and hide it in my backpack, it should be fine.
And then the school bell rings.
That damned school bell.
Every single fucking time, it goes off at the worst possible moment. I swear to God, that thing has a personal vendetta against me.
The centipede jerks at the sound and suddenly burrows into my arm, looking for somewhere to hide.
"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"
I scream.
Pain rips through me as I feel it forcing its way deeper into my arm, its rough body and all those sharp, ceaseless legs tearing through flesh as it burrows inside.
"Roach? What the fuck are you doing?"
Yashiro's voice snaps me out of it.
I look up.
Everyone is staring at me.
The students. The teacher. Hell, even the fly by the window probably thinks I'm worth less than the piece of shit it spent all morning sitting on.
Sweat pours down my face as I try to explain.
"I-it's n-not what you think."
The words come out in a stammer while I gesture weakly, trying to look harmless, even as the centipede disappears completely into my arm.
Oh crap.
Okay. Fine. Maybe it'll come back out once I get somewhere safe.
I force a nervous smile.
"I can explain..."
"Yes," the teacher says coldly. "I'm listening."
"I, um..."
Before I can get another word out, that strange feeling in my chest starts swelling. Bigger. Stronger. Hotter. It's the same weird warmth I used to feel whenever I was with Yashiro, except this time it's way stronger.
Then something shifts.
Something changes.
It feels like my whole body is being remade. Harder. Bigger. Taller. More flexible. Tougher. Faster. Stronger.
I look down at myself.
Centipede-like armor plates are spreading over my torso and arms. My limbs are stretching, growing longer.
I don't know what's happening.
I'm terrified. I'm shaking.
But it doesn't feel wrong.
It doesn't feel unnatural.
If anything, it feels good.
It feels powerful.
I glance at the class. Everyone is staring at me wide-eyed. Yashiro has a look on her face I've never seen before, and I hate how excited that makes me. If Yashiro's emotional state was a field of study, I'd be Einstein. I seriously don't understand how anyone can get so obsessed with something so stupid and small, something that barely matters...
Before I can get any more distracted by her expression, a cold voice cuts through my thoughts like a bucket of ice water.
"Yurui..."
The teacher says my name, her voice flat and cold.
And just like that, I realize how bad my situation is.
We're at Miracle Academy. Miracle Academy is tied to Miracle Inc. The teacher used to be Miracle Inc's chief director of health and science. Miracle Inc researches blessings and everything connected to them. I don't know what just happened to me, but it has to be something abnormal.
Which means Miracle Inc would do anything to get their hands on me.
And if Miss Maevis is anything to go by, once they do, there's no telling what they'll do to me.
At this point, it's pretty obvious nothing is off the table.
"Yurui," she says again, softer this time.
She slowly rises from her seat, her long white hair rustling as she moves.
"Stay away from me!!!!"
The words rip out of me in pure panic. I'm too scared to even think straight about what happens if she catches me.
So I turn and run.
I hit the door hard enough to smash straight through it. Somehow, I don't feel any pain at all.
I keep running down the hallway, knocking aside anyone and anything in my way. I'm moving so fast it feels like I'm on a scooter. Even indoors, it feels like wind is blasting past me. I aim straight for a window and, without stopping to think, crash through it.
We're on the third floor.
I scream when I see the ground below me, far away and tiny, people reduced to little dots. Before I can even process what's happening, I slam into the pavement.
For a second, I'm sure that's it. I'm dead.
But somehow I'm not.
Everything hurts, but I'm alive.
I look up and see people staring at me.
Again.
A crowd gathering. Faces turning toward me. Watching me.
Panic takes over.
"Stay away from me!!!"
I scream it and charge straight at them.
The crowd breaks apart instantly. People trip over each other trying to get away. The unlucky few who aren't fast enough yelp when I slam into them and send them flying aside.
I keep running.
I don't look back.
I run toward the only place in the world that's ever given me even the smallest bit of comfort.
The slums.
Home.