Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Fan Fiction / Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Fan Fiction ❯ Contracts and Conspiracies ❯ The Day of Living Positively ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Just for one day.

That was the challenge.

Just for one day, think positive.

He did not even know why he took it up. It must be the fit of madness that he was occasionally prone to. Perhaps it was the blazing hot sun that would give you skin cancer if you-

No! Think positive! Now do it all over again.

He did not even know why he took it up. It must be the wave of euphoria that he occasionally experience. Perhaps it was the absolutely radiant, vitamin D-giving sun that day. It has all gone into his head. He would show them that he can think positive.

For one day. Just one day.

Itoshiki Nozomu, the form teacher of Class 2-A looked out of the beautiful, clean, clear window to see the blue, blue sky with all those melodiously singing birds fluttering around happily. It is a beautiful day! Nothing can ruin his wonderful, wonderful mood.

After all, it is only for one day.

That day, he tried to skip to school like how Kafuka did it. Step. Hop. Step. Turn. It is a beautiful spring day! Pink Gabriel looked absolutely majestic with its crown of pink cherry blossoms drifting lightly down the tree. The streets before him was covered with the layer of beautiful petals, crunching crisply as he stepped on them.

Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful!

There was only that much exclamation marks and usage of 'beautiful' before one gets tired of it. This might be one long day.

But it will be beautiful!

Pink Manager stood proudly aside from the cherry blossoms, the long (beautiful!) rope still hanging from it, swaying gently in the light, refreshing breeze. It was as though no one touched it since he had left it. Even the short, stout stool stood sturdily below the tree.

What a memory! Beautiful, just beautiful!

But for today, for one day, he will remove it.

Yes. He closed his eyes for a moment in deep, beautiful contemplation. He shall remove the beautiful noose he had prepared for himself.

Nozomu stepped forward and onto the short, stout stool. Placing his hands on the rope, tugging lightly at it to remove the rope from the tree, taking great care not to break any of the beautiful branches of Pink Manager.

It was tighter than he remembered. He leaned closer, the noose was almost around his head.

Ha ha! He chuckled to himself. It was almost as though he was going to do it!

NO! He was thinking positively. He was only removing the temptation for a day. Then tomorrow, he will return the rope to its original position, return to his daily routine of negative-optimism, maybe even make another futile attempt to end his sorrowful life on Earth.

But not today. Today, he will show them.

It was then the cooling, invigorating breeze blew. It was refreshing to the bones, swaying the leaves and cherry blossoms on the trees gently in the most beautiful, picturesque scene of a cherry blossom garden. Nevermind that cherry blossoms only bloom in spring and it was almost summer now.

The cooling, invigorating breeze also swayed the short, stout stool that Nozomu stood on as he tugged at the so beautiful noose with his neck so close to it. It was a short, brief, beautiful moment done only in silhouette and slow motion as Nozomu stumbled, falling head first into the noose into the position he had always wanted to be in...

Except not today.

For today, was to be the day of living positively.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

In order to fully understand this scene, we would need a flashback. So that we know the context which Nozomu was attempting to go against his character by acting positive. By the good fortunes of his misfortunes, Nozomu was currently experiencing the part of the dying process known as 'life flashing past his eyes'. As good a flashback as you can get.

So let us dive in and update ourselves with what had happened so far.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

“So spare me, oh mighty one! So save me, oh fiery one!”

Nozomu groveled before Arisa who had exploded. Not really exploded as in 'exploded', since that would deprive us of our heroine and would not be in good taste. Rather, she exploded into angry, frustrated rants and waving her broomstick threateningly.

Her god-brother, Gabriel was holding on to her shoulder, holding her back from causing massive, unnecessary injuries to our despair-deprived Teacher Despair. That would not be professional for them, contract agents.

Beside them, the students of Teacher Despair, those who were around showed no reaction, as though as they were used to it. Which they were.

“Arisa! Arisa! Calm down!” Gabriel held on to the raving girl while keeping a constant, strained smile to their contractee, “Now will you excuse us for a while?”

And so, he dragged his angry god-sister away from dealing harm, to a corner of the room to talk things over.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

“We are not going to do this,” Arisa snarled with all the fury of a child with dashed dreams, “His request is silly, this school is silly, everything has been a waste of time. I'm going to call Sameshima. After I get through with him.” She pointed towards Nozomu, still on the ground in a traditional begging position.

Gabriel sighed. It was to be expected. Arisa had been looking forward to this so much and what they got was this silly, petty request. Even he found the 'mission' absurd, even if somewhat simple. But there was something else. The school. Something was going on here. Something not good.

However, he would have to convince his hot-tempered god-sibling to stay.

“This is our first contract,” he tried unsuccessfully to sound enthusiastic, “We cannot back out of it.”

“So you are now the one trying to convince me. They did deserve that punishment. Who have heard of a class permanently remaining at level two?” argued Arisa, still ready to explode once more.

“There is something on in this school. You can sense it, right?”

Arisa put her anger on hold for a moment to sense the 'something'. Fine, she could not really sense it but she knew what Gabriel was referring to. There was something to this school, something that could be the one causing all these madness.

“And so you intend to use the chance to investigate?” She took a glance towards their contractee, still on the ground. And took a further glance of suspicion at Chiri, the strange, bossy girl. “Or you just wanted to hang around longer?”

Gabriel paused. He did want to listen to more of Nozomu's 'wisdom'. He did want to stay around for a while longer for find out more.

“We can use the chance to investigate. If you hate his depressed outlook of life so much, why not just force him to act positive as part of the deal? If he succeeds, we help him,” the wizard argued, not catching his god-sister's innuendo.

“That is quite illogical, isn't it?”

“No point agreeing just for the payout, right?”

- - - - - - - - - - - -

“Isn't this my flashback? Why did my agents' point-of-view piece get inserted into my flashback? Even my own 'life flashing past my eyes' does not solely belong to me?” Nozomu wailed in despair over his lack of controls over his own memories.

“That's because it is only proper that the readers know what Gabriel-kun and Arisa-chan were talking about,” Chiri explained, “With these fore-knowledge, they would not be able to appreciate and understand the rest of the story.”

“Why is fore-knowledge so important?! Why can't a story or excerpt just stand out on its own?!” Nozomu despaired in his groveling position, “People just assume that others have the necessary fore-knowledge to understand! And more often than not, others don't and that marred everyone's experience! These are all things that rely too much on fore-knowledge!”

Example â†’Required fore-knowledge

Contracts and Conspiracies (This story) â†’ Movements (found in Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha section)

Running â†’ Walking

Maths â†’ More Maths

Reading â†’ A language of choice

Now â†’ History

History â†’ More historical history

More historical history â†’ Even more historical history

Amnesia?! (Negima section) â†’ Touhou/Scheme?!/Who knows what else?

So I herd you liek Mudkips â†’ 4chan memes/Twisted sense of humor

“As the old saying goes,” Kino who had mysteriously appeared in the room, dressed in a plain white T-shirt, “Fap first, worry later. You can always try to enjoy the story for what it is first.”

“Then what if it is a trap?!”

“You mean like me?” Maria asked from above where she had been swinging on the lights all along.

“No, it has been established that the 'I am a boy' quote from you from that particular episode was because legally you are male since you bought your citizenship from a boy. But physically,” Nozomu looked up to see her white panties, “you are definitely still a girl.”

Returning back to the topic, Nozomu despaired once more about man's tendency to create things that require fore-knowledge to enjoy or operate. Knowledge begets knowledge. Everything is a never-ending cycle of knowledge requirements.

“Despair! The knowledge requirement for all things have left me in despair!” he cried, thus fulfilling the at-least-one-despair-rant quota for each chapter.

As if on cue to illustrate the symbolism of his rant, Matoi asked Komori, “I need a new piece of rope for Teacher.”

“You can find it in the garden shed.”

“The garden shed is too dark. I need a torchlight.”

“You can find it at the storeroom.”

“The storeroom is flooded. I need a pail.”

“You can find it in the toilet over to the left.”

“The toilet is too messy. I need a broom to clean up.”

“You can borrow the broom from Teacher's agent over there.”

“Alright. Thanks.”

“No, wait,” Nozomu interrupted, rubbing the bridge of his nose in thought, “Isn't the skit supposed to be circular in nature? As in Tsunetsuki-san will keep asking Kiri-san for things after things until she needs a rope again to do it.”

“Does it have to?” the two girls looked at him, “And you are also using fore-knowledge to understand this little piece of action and Maria's piece just now.”

Nozomu stopped. Oh my. Oh dear. All of a sudden, everything became clear.

Of course! Everything required fore-knowledge. Everyone have fore-knowledge. Enlightenment! Perhaps fore-knowledge would not be so bad. All he needs to do was to find out everything that was before everything that was before everything that was before everything...

An explosion. Not that by Arisa of course. But an explosion that shattered heavenly bodies and herald the start of everything. The beginning of everything. The ultimate of fore-knowledge...

Oh my. The Big Bang. It is so pretty...

“Mr. Itoshiki,” Gabriel's voice cut Nozomu out of his never-ending drive for fore-knowledge and bringing him back in extra-fast rewinding speed to the present, “We have come to a decision.”

“We will aid you in your... request,” Arisa continued, her distaste for his simple request evident in her tone, “The fee will be standard and to be cashed to the Swiss account given later. And on one more condition.”

“What?” Nozomu asked, somewhat dazed from his mental trip back in time but relieved that help was at hand, that his despair would soon be fulfilled.

“We need to observe your class and your lessons for at least a day. Tomorrow. And we want to see it conducted properly.”

Then she said it fiercely and firmly, pouring every ounce of her distaste for weaklings into her words, to the shocked and exalted gasps of the students around Nozomu.

“You, sir, shall act positively. No despair. Just positive actions.”

And to his own surprise and to everyone else's too, Nozomu answered.

“Sure.”

- - - - - - - - - - - -

There was still more to the flashback. But those are rather uninformative to us. After all, there are at least twelve more hours of life to flash before Nozomu's dying eyes, most of them of him tossing and turning in bed, trying to will himself to think positively. So let us leave him hanging on Pink Manager for now and move on to what happened between Gabriel, Arisa and Chiri as they attempt to settle for the night.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The room was spotless, sterile and clean. Everything was neat and perfectly packed. Books neatly stacked, bed properly made, clothes tidily folded and kept in the wardrobe. There were also things that one would associate with a proper teenage girl's room. Posters of the most recent pop stars stuck in exact uniform, perpendicular position to the wall, equidistant from each other. A Hello Kitty plushie placed at the corner of the bed. Cosmetics aligned according to length at the right side of the desk. A smoothly pressed, uncreased sailor uniform hung to the wall. Fashion magazines, all bundled up properly and kept under the bed.

Everything that was considered necessary to a growing teenage girl. Nothing more, nothing less. Except for the shovel with reddish-brown stains that looked like dried blood on it, shoved and hidden in the shadows underneath the bed.

“And this is my room,” Chiri introduced with all the proper hospitality of a host.

Gabriel and Arisa nodded in appreciation as they carried their heavy luggage behind them.

“Moving on,” Chiri led them down the corridor of the apartment she shared with her family, “This is our guest room and where the two of you will be sleeping for the rest of your stay here.”

Mostly empty. No decorations whatsoever.

Just two conjoined traditional Japanese mattresses with a box of tissues at the head side.

“Oh,” was the children's reply before they both moved their belongings into the now-occupied room.

“Oh?” Chiri's eyes narrowed in irritation while she stood at the hallway, “Is that all?”

“The room is very nice... very spacious... Thank you very much?” Gabriel hazarded a guess, watching for any change in reaction from their host. He was starting to grasp the trick to handling her... Just stick to the script (if there was one) or do whatever was expected.

“Aren't you two going to protest over the sleeping arrangements? The two of you being of the opposite sex and sleeping on a conjoined traditional Japanese mattress together?”

“That?” Arisa raised her head from unpacking her personal belongings, “Oh, that's not a problem. We have been through worse.”

Gabriel nodded, recalling their one month experience in the Mahora Library Island. They had been through worse sleeping arrangements before. It was enough for them to appreciate the invention of the soft, fluffy mattress.

“Oh no,” Chiri switched demeanor, “That is not the proper thing to say. Both of you should be protesting and resisting my arrangements since both of you are of the bipolar character type.” The dark deadly aura that chilled their bones was around her again, prompting action from the hapless children.

“I will not sleep in the same room with him,” Arisa said, trying to act as bipolar as she could to accommodate their host's proper ideals.

“You need to be more insulting and fiery while still having a hidden soft spot for him,” Chiri encouraged.

“He is an idiot, an insensitive jerk and a crybaby!” Arisa continued in a louder voice. It was strangely liberating.

“Er.. You snore loudly; you are stupid and never think?” Gabriel tried, wondering at the back of his mind what did bipolar exactly mean.

“Not good enough. Check with Otonashi-san if you need advice.”

A mobile message later, “Your liberal thinking does a disservice, not only to this debate, but to the entire concept of argument,” Arisa read the message on her mobile phone word for word, “You, sir, are incapable of absorbing simple facts. Perhaps you would find it easier if you weren't wearing Mr. Osama bin Ladin's buttcheeks for earmuffs.”

“That had nothing to do with me or this argument!,” Gabriel protested, subconsciously feeling his ears for the earmuffs, “That had gone too far! I refuse to sleep in the same room with you!”

And he meant it.

“That's a stupid thing to say and you are a stupid person for saying it,” Arisa continued reading. “And I, too refuse to sleep in the same room with you!” She took a glance to Chiri for affirmation.

Chiri was smiling with satisfaction of another clichÃ© properly accomplished.

“I will take the sofa,” Gabriel try to leave the room in a huff.

“That is not proper! As host, I will not allow it! You are to keep me, an unsuspecting innocent girl who had accidentally learnt about the secret world of magic under observation,” Chiri stopped Gabriel in his path, having blocked the door to the guest room, “I will arrange for alternate sleeping arrangements. In my room.”

With that, Gabriel found himself dragged into the sanitized, absolutely perfectly organized room by the surprisingly strong Chiri. Leaving Arisa surprised and stunned by the sudden change in outcome. This was not what she had expected.

Wasn't she the one who insisted that they quarrel and refuse to share the same room because it was not proper? Because it was not the proper way to do things? Arisa fumed to herself, well on the path of developing proper bipolar personality.

Fine, so be it.

Arisa crossed her arms and sat down on the mattress with a huff to consider the next move of the Agency. Judging from the situation, the Agency will not be seeing 'action'. Most likely, all they need to do was smuggle Mr. Itoshiki out and to his home outside the town. Something that they could easily accomplish even using only their non-magical resources.

That was no way of proving herself to her magical friends. Neither would it make a good previous record for the Agency. It was all a waste of time in her opinion.

However, there was the 'something' that Gabriel mentioned about the whole place. Unlike Gabriel, Arisa was not a full-fledged magic wielder. Her magical abilities were a result of hard training and practice. She can perform some magic, mainly those fire magic which she had some sort of affinity with. Other than that, she was as non-magical as the next civilian. She could not just sense magic in the air like he did. But even she could tell through observations that something was going on. Something that Gabriel felt they should investigate.

Or he could really be bluffing because he just wanted to stay around longer. Arisa could tell that her god-brother had taken great interest in all those depressed nonsense that Mr. Itoshiki spouted. His past had never truly left him and his inert guilt had made him susceptible to the overt expression of theatrical despair.

From beyond the thin walls of the guest room, she could hear Chiri bossing Gabriel around, forcing him to act in manners she felt was proper. For a while, Arisa felt something in her heart. Jealousy pangs although it would be too early for her.

For bossing and acting dominant around Gabriel was in her opinion, her job.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The clean room was an anti-thesis to Gabriel's traditional method of room maintenance. His philosophy towards rooms had been to simply stack anything stackable in a corner and anything not, under the bed. A clean room just lacked the human touch to it.

Chiri had personally arranged a mattress on the floor for him, taking great care to align the edges of it in equal distance to the desk and her own bed. It was as though there were grids on the floor which all objects must follow. The miscellaneous items that had to make way for the mattress had been neatly and carefully placed aside in a similar orderly fashion.

When she was finally done, she gave a satisfied sigh and a warm, genuine smile as she surveyed her handiwork. This girl, Gabriel observed, was really quite attractive. From her long, silky straight hair with the carefully center-parted fringe to her face and body that adhered to the general standards of beauty. If only she did not have that demanding personality and obsession with proper procedures.

“Now, tell me about yourself,” the elder girl said naturally as she sat down on her bed.

“No,” he replied just as naturally, conscious of revealing more than he should.

“According to standard scenes in fiction such as this, the boy will reveal his heartfelt secrets to the older girl. I am playing the role of big sister here. So tell big sister about the problems of your heart.”

“I've never heard of it.”

“But that is how it is. So what plagues your heart or mind? You always look somewhat far away, as though there was something else of concern to you.”

“I... I'm not telling,” Gabriel hesitated, thinking about what Chiri had just said before continuing in defiance, “What makes you think I do?”

“Ah... the pause,” Chiri clapped her hands together as she bounced lightly on her bed, acting the role of concerned and slightly playful big sister perfectly, “And the defiant resistance. You are doing it properly. But as concerned and slightly playful big sister, I will not force you to tell. I'm sure you will tell me properly eventually, probably before this story is over.”

“What story?”

“It's only proper for girls to keep secrets,” Chiri winked mischievously as she placed her finger on her lips, doing the hush symbol, “Even your sister will have some from you.”

“She is not really my sister.”

“And I have just learnt something from you. Then again, given the nature of anime-based fiction, even if she is, she would not remain so for long,” Chiri stood up and took our her pyjamas from the wardrobe.

“It is only proper to have something teasing here for the readers, right? Please turn away while I change,” she said without bothering if Gabriel understood it, “Don't you dare peek!”

“And you should try because it is what the male characters do if caught in this situation,” she added softly.

Gabriel wouldn't of course. It was in his opinion, not proper; though the rustling of cloth, the light flopping sound of clothes landing on the floor, the sound of fastening zippers left enough to his imagination.

The story. Anime-based fiction. Chiri had mentioned them so casually. What could it mean?

“You can relaxed now,” Chiri said as she walked towards the light switch, properly dressed in an over-sized, baggy pyjamas of epic cuteness. It was the signal for bedtime. “Not changing before sleeping?”

“I'm used to it,” Gabriel replied gruffly, feeling his thick robe before he laid down on the mattress. Thoughts swam inside his mind as he tried to make understanding of all the things he had learnt.

With luck, it would contribute towards his final efforts.

“Then good night,” Chiri said as she switched off the lights and went to bed.

“And don't you dare fall asleep when you are supposed to be watching me,” she added firmly.

One can sense auras but to actually see them require certain special magic. However, since the lights were switched off, darkness was already everywhere. It did not take much of a leap in imagination for Gabriel to visualize the dark, dangerous aura rising from the teenage girl's lying form.

And so Gabriel truly did not dare to fall asleep. That was, until sleep caught up with him instead.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle went Nozomu as the rope strained on his neck and froth threaten to spill from his soundlessly screaming mouth. Quite an unpleasant sight for us to return to the present to and would be a depressing thing if not for the fact that today was the day of living positively.

He was finally coming near to the end of his 'life flashing past his eyes' stage of dying. In fact, he was at the part where he was walking down the beautiful cherry blossom garden, trying to step, hop, step, turn like Kafuka. As he watched, Nozomu came to a conclusion that he just could not do the step, hop, step, turn as sprightly and lightly as his over-optimistic student.

If she was here, she would have think him to be trying to grow taller. Nozomu prepared for the end of his flashing life. At least, he would be going off positively. Not exactly the way he had imagined the end to be but not exactly a bad way to go.

If only. If only the writer had been more sympathetic to him rather than his agents. If only the writer had spent more time on him hanging in futile struggle against the fatal (but beautiful!) rope and given him a longer, a more eloquent soliloquy fit for a male lead before his end. There was so many more things to do.

So many more things to despair about.

One final tear of regret. Regret of not been able to completed his final challenge of living positively.

One final tear of regret flowed down his pale, life-choked cheeks and fell poignantly to the ground.

Along with the rest of his body as the rope snapped almost magically.

The tear landed with an almost silent splash, just like his almost silent plead for help.

His body landed with just a loud, un-poetic thud.

“Teacher,” Chiri's sharp voice rang out in annoyance, “It is not proper for you to die now. The day is hardly over, let alone the story.”

Nozomu rubbed his sore neck. He rubbed his sore bum and he rubbed his shoulders in comfort. Then he cried, “What if I had really died?!”

“What if you had really died?”

Behind Chiri stood his agents. Both of them dressed in more normal clothings. The girl, Arisa was the one who spoke. Dressed in a white school dress with a sailor uniform top, she snarled in apparent disgust over the cowardice of suicide.

Gabriel yawned beside her as he pocketed something; his crumpled white shirt half-tucked into his dark trousers in an apparent show of his exhaustion. Both Chiri and Arisa frowned at his blatant display of unprofessionalism. For a while, Nozomu wondered what had happened the previous night.

Straightening his hakama, Nozomu cleared his throat and closed his eyes for inspiration. Then he said, “What a beautiful day! It is a good day not to die. Thank you. It was only an accident.”

Arisa stared in suspicion.

“Look at the majestic, beautiful tree! Pink Manager, it is called. And that is Pink Gabriel (not named after you!), the pink cherry blossoms like the wings of the angel!” Nozomu pranced around the pathway, scattering the fallen cherry blossom petals on the ground, “And that is the treasure trove for the homeless.” He quoted his infamously optimistic student.

“That is only a dustbin.”

“But a beautiful treasure trove it is! Beautiful! Simply beautiful!” he skipped, hopped and stepped around his student and agents, “It is a beautiful day! I am thinking positive! Really positive! These are beautiful trees! This is a beautiful pathway made with beautiful concrete! You are all beautiful!”

“I'm sure thinking positive did not meant over liberal abuse of 'beautiful'.”

“What a beautiful criticism! I will despair if not for today being the day of living positively. Because I need you to get me out of here! Beautiful!” he took Arisa's hand, “Beautiful!” he took Chiri's hand. “Beautiful!” Nozomu sang out-of-tune and blasphemously out-of-character.

Before he could burst into a positive, rousing solo about the beauty of beauty, the school bell rang from afar. It was almost time for class and he was late.

Him! The teacher! That would set a bad example and would not be positive!

Like clockwork, Chiri took a piece of toast from her bag and placed a corner of it in her mouth. Adopting the proper running pose for energetic but late schoolgirls, she started to sprint towards school.

“Aren't you going to run too?”

Arisa and Gabriel did not run. They were not students of this school after all. They stood beside Nozomu, waiting for his next action. Arisa with a look of suspicion and skepticism and Gabriel looking just tired and stifling yet another yawn.

“Why, yes! I must act positive!” Nozomu laughed in forced optimism, “But as with thinking positive, I will not be late. But I will run anyway!”

So he ran. Exhausted from his unfortunate failure in dying and acting all positive against his natural disposition to despair. He would be very depressed now if it had not been his must to act positive.

“One more stupid, ridiculous act of your despair and I'll cancel the contract!” Arisa's threat waived to his ears.

With his heart pressing for despair but his will forcing himself to think positive, leaving his two agents standing on the beautiful cherry blossom covered pathway, Nozomu ran and ran towards his school for the rest of the day of living positively.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The construction team was still moving the large sign that said 'Ansem Man High School' into position when Nozomu stepped into the classroom. He tried to maintain a light bouncy touch to his step as he walked towards his desk and slammed his hands on his desk. “I need more reviews and readership” was scrawled onto the blackboard behind him for no apparent reason.

“Class,” he announced, sweeping his eyes across the class, taking the attendance mentally. A task that was really quite simple considering the number of students he had that was actually named.

“Class, today we shall learn civics,” Nozomu announced, picking up his book, “Please turn to page twenty and we shall pick up where we left off the last time.”

A painfully raised bandaged hand.

“Teacher,” Abiru asked, staring at her teacher with both her clear, endearing blue eyes, “What about our everyday lessons of depressing reality?”

“Ah,” Nozomu ah-ed, “I see you are not informed about what happened yesterday. Today, as part of my deal with my agents, I am to act positively. So I shall not be preaching despair but spreading positivity today. And we shall learn about civics.”

He looked to the back of the class. Both his agents were already seated comfortably at the back. Gabriel snoozing quite peacefully on his desk too. How they managed to enter when he was sure he was faster than them and did not notice their entrance after him was a mystery to him. Though not too much a concern.

If they can sneak around so quietly like that, they must be elites. They will be able to save his and everyone's summer. So that they could be free to do what they want, like be in despair.

Good positive thoughts.

“Brother Dear, do you mean we will actually act as a normal class today?” his sister, Rin, unparalleled expert of all traits, questioned.

“Yes, I shall be conducting class normally today!” Nozomu answered to the murmurs of his students, “So Hito-san, would you please read the page?”

“So you are assuming that I am normal?!” wailed his chosen student normally like any normal student would protest over being called normal.

More normals wails against the biased narrative.

“You should try and sue him for libel. I can recommend a lawyer to you,” Kaere whispered into her ears.

Due to her still flipping through her book on pop-cultural insults, Meru was unable to provide another of her cutting-edge mobile message insults in time. However, you will be sure that she would come up with something in due time. It was the policy of this writer to use Meru as a platform to make as many obscure but witty pop-cultural insult reference as possible.

In fact, one google search by the writer later, Nozomu's mobile phone vibrated in anticipation of the incoming Meru-trademarked insult.

“Worth: Just because you are necessary, doesn't mean you are important.”

With cries of apologies, Ai ran out of the classroom again.

“That was fast,” Chiri commented when the antics finally died down, “Almost everyone who had antics to be done to represent their presence had done their trademark moves in proper manner already.”

“It had to be fast,” Nozomu explained, “Despite the title, the writer wasted over up to forty percent of the word count for this chapter on flashbacks of yesterday. Now we had to go through our lessons quickly so that the chapter can end in an appropriate word count.”

There was a brief flash of black and white. It was enlightenment.

“Des-

Nozomu felt a chill as Arisa's stare bored from the back of the class. He had almost did it; almost gone back into character. He was supposed to act positive.

“Des- what?” his de-facto class monitor, Chiri of the proper procedures questioned, “Please complete your sentence! It is making me irritated!”

“Chiri-chan!” Kafuka sang cheerfully, “I am sure that Teacher would have something wonderful, something great to pass on to us. He is only just thinking of how to thread his pearls of wisdom together for us! Right, Teacher?”

Arisa continued to stare from behind his students, waiting for him to make a false move before she cancel the contract.

Des-what? Destruction? Desolation? Destitution? Need something more positive ringing. Need... Need... Need! Another wave of inspiration swept him away.

“Desire! Hope, beauty and the writer's natural inability to allocate word count have left me with desire!”

“Oh really?” Matoi whispered hoarsely into his ears and placed her hands into his hakama, caressing his under-developed, imperfect chest.

“Yes, really,” Nozomu repeated, trembling slightly as Matoi started to nibble at his ears, “I am with desire. But please, this is not an 'M' rated fic and there are minors present.”

He looked towards Arisa for a reaction. A heavy tint of flushing red on her face as she tried to look away. Gabriel, being asleep, was missing out on the action. Too bad for the screen time hogging, original hero. It was time for Nozomu to get his screen time due.

“The writer had spent more words on yesterday than today, which should focus on me! My important chapter of me acting positively instead of negatively. It is leaving me wanting for more! I want more time! More word count! More screen time! More manly, epic action! It has left me with desire!”

“Well spoken, Teacher,” Kafuka, ever so happy praised, “People always want things; people are always in desire! Deny them and they will desire more! Give them and they will still desire more!”

She stood on her desk and raised her hands towards the sky, avoiding Maria's swinging legs. “Desire is what makes the world go round! Desire! Matoi-chan desires Teacher! Mayo-chan desires recognition! Abiru-chan desires tails! Chiri-chan desires perfection! And Teacher,” she looked towards him like a preacher of hope, “desires despair!”

“Everyone has a desire! You, me,” and Kafuka pointed towards his contract agents, “them too. The secret of understanding the world would be to understand the desire of everyone because desire gives hope and drive to everyone!”

Nozomu was getting the nagging feeling that Kafuka was stealing the screen time that he 'desired' but a look at Arisa's awed face convinced him to let his dangerously optimistic student continue.

“Desire!” she cried like a messiah, “I am left with desire! We are left with desire!”

“By the way,” Kafuka added as an after note to her speech, “The hiragana for despair is 'zetsubou' as we know but do you know that if you do not change the kana of 'ze' and retain it as 'se', you get 'setsubou'! Which means 'earnest desire'! There is desire in despair!”

Remember that. Because it will come in useful in later chapters.

Ignoring Matoi's actions on him, Nozomu stepped forward to reclaim his screen time. It was his day of living positively.

“Yes! Oh beautiful, positive desire! Knowing the desire of others gives you power of them! Ignore their desire and you will be ignored faster than this particular non-romance, non-smut fanfic!”

A raised hand.

It was Arisa.

“Do you mean that if I know someone's desire, I can become closer to them?”

“But don't forget your own desires!” Nozomu said, resisting the urge to break into despair rants about the new topic instead, “Matching desires will work best!”

Arisa sat back quietly, thoughtful and mumbling to herself.

Nozomu reflected on how tiring to speak in exclamation marks for a while. Then he continued his lesson while adding plentiful of 'beautiful', 'positive' and 'desire' into it. Anything for salvation. Anything for the desire of despair.

With the fictional acceleration, the day of living positively would soon end. Once so, it would be time to make his escape into the freedom of despair.

That was probably the only genuine positive thought he had for the entire day.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

He laughed maniacally. For that was what villains do.

“Do you have to do that?” someone complained from behind, “We are trying to watch the live feed at the moment and your maniacal laughter is distracting us.”

On the screen, Nozomu was teaching about the importance of desire to the class. The class listening attentively and Gabriel still snoozing. It was not easy to tell but Nozomu did not look very happy despite the positivity of his lesson or day. His level of despair was rising and it was all going according to plan.

Everything going according to the conspiracy.

He laughed maniacally again in devious defiance. For that was what deviously defiant villains do.

“How are our agents?” he who has yet to be named demanded answers to his question. Neither can we see his features since we are once again, back in this dark, evil room filled with evil, evil villains of all sorts. There was that stench in the air again and everyone was wearing those horrible, white and red masks over their face.

“Our agents had successfully infiltrated the classroom and are working constantly behind the scene to move the story in our benefit. One of them is currently providing us with the live feed we are watching now.”

The speaker adjusted his thick, round glasses and peered at his clipboard. If only, he wished, they would install more lighting and do away with their silly, stinking rituals. He was not particularly evil but as a hired administrator, he was only doing his job. That made him really quite evil.

“Great!” Maniacal laughter laughed again. He was really evil, for he was the one who started the 'desu' trend in the previous chapter. It did not work out as well as he hoped but there was no denying that that was evil, “What is your name again?”

“I believe I was not named yet. None of us is since we have all been identified by voices so far.”

Murmurs of agreement. Grave booming voiceâ„¢, sissy/stoic voice, silencer... none of them had names yet. It was very distressing and not evil for them not to have names.

“We need names! We desire more than just vocal recognition!” Maniac laughter laughed.

“The writer does not wish to spend too much time with names!” Someone said.

“Then we will defy the writer and name ourselves instead!” Devious defiant maniacal laughter roared, “We are evil! Rules do not matter! I shall be the Leader!”

“That's not a proper name.”

“But rules do not matter!” The Leader, previously maniacal laughter, said, “I am the leader; I am evil; so I shall be the Leader with a capital L!”

“You are the Administrator!” he pointed to the Administrator who nodded meekly.

“Mayor!” Previously Grave booming voiceâ„¢.

“Communications!” Previously sissy/stoic voice.

“Silencer!” No reply from the Silencer.

“And now that everyone has a name, we are truly evil!” The Leader laughed again.

“You mean that all these while there was only five of us here? I got the sense that there were more.”

“All our field agents are on the ground now. We have more cannon folder goons outside. The number has never been specified but in this dark room of evil, there has always been us five! The chief executive committee of The... Conspiracy!”

Conspiraccccccyyyy!

“Now we shall continue to observe through the live feed provided by our agents our progress. We need Itoshiki to be in as much despair as possible, which is rather easy. The greater your hope, the harder you fail and the more in despair you get. And then, for our second target...”

All eyes focused at their second target, the second key to their ultimate success in the conspiracy. The overhead footage of the young boy with a troubled heart sleeping as peacefully as the calm sea before the storm.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

He was dreaming.

He was sure of it. It was a dream that he had so many times for the last four years.

However, as dreamlike as it was, it was once a reality and it was just as real as it was in the past.

He was not present when it occurred but it did so because of his actions. And that would always weigh on his conscience.

The screams of three hundred deaths.

And the single quiet moment when all his plans failed, him unable to do anything out of pure shock and his mother's death.

“Wake up,” she shook his shoulder, “Mr. Itoshiki's class is finally over. His day of living positively is coming to an end.”

Gabriel opened a single bloodshot, sleepless eye.

Arisa was standing over him with her trademark fuming look. She was fulfilling his mother's last wish just as he was. Around them, the rest of the class had either left or was leaving. Nozomu was still cleaning off the random pleads for reviews that kept appearing on the blackboard.

Chiri had left for club activities first. They would be meeting up again later.

“We need to plan. Or at least, we could use a plan to get Mr. Itoshiki out of this town and back to his.”

“And that,” Gabriel lifted a single finger to interrupt, “would still leave them with the problem. We need to get the class promoted too so that the higher ups, as he calls them, would have no reason to go after him.”

“And so what do you suggest?” His god-sister questioned, “Despite rumors of those underaged teachers elsewhere, I don't think either of us are qualified to teach high school.”

“Why not change the records?”

They turned to see the boy besides them. He had already changed out of his school uniform to a shirt of plain blue. There were more students beside him. The injured girl, the swinging foreign girl, Mr. Itoshiki's sister, the girl with large, evil eyes and the matured-looking one with a short ponytail.

“Kuniya. Kuniya Kino,” the boy introduced himself.

“Is it me or is the class over in balanced in favor of girls?” Gabriel blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Was her injury the result of our black hawk crash yesterday?” was Arisa's first, her finger pointed towards the girl with bandages all over her body.

“It's only a matter of fictional preference. And no, we think it is,” the boy lowered his voice, “domestic abuse. But don't mention it to her.”

He rose up again to address the two contract agents, “We think that you should consider going after our records to amend it, thus promoting us to the next grade.”

He pointed towards Arisa, “You can stay to change our records while he,” the boy pointed at Gabriel, “can accompany Teacher on his escape to his hometown.”

“That's quite well-planned,” Gabriel replied, thinking something else at the back of his mind, “So have you arranged for all the necessary transportation and equipments?”

“Now that you have said it, yes,” the teenage boy answered with a smile, “Everything prepared to help you save our summer.” Behind him, the students murmured in agreement.

Gabriel arched an eyebrow but said nothing. He had been part of a really well-planned plot before. It did not went well.

“Very well,” his god-sister said confidently, “We shall think about it. Thank you.”

“No, we should thank you,” the teenage boy replied, “Your help had been necessary for what we want. Everything is ready to go. We hope for a favorable response tomorrow.” He turned around and left the classroom, followed by the rest of his group. There were murmurs of 'going to the beach' before returning home.

“And so?” Arisa turned back to Gabriel who had returned his sleepy head to the desk.

“We think about it,” he answered without any commitment, “We think about it.”

It wasn't long before Chiri returned from her club activities with an air of satisfaction on her. Another day of proper procedures done properly. The tea ceremony was something that require precise movements and delicate actions; that made it such a suitable club activities for her.

As they returned back to 'base', Gabriel thought about 'it', Arisa thought briefly about 'it' and Chiri acted the role of concerned and slightly playful big sister. The three of them framed properly by the setting sun, leaving Nozomu still scrubbing futilely but positively at the blackboard of words.

And that marked the end of the day of living positively. Tomorrow would be a brand new day; a brand new perfect day to bring a start to the plot and the great escape.