“Hey guys, do you mind if I sit here?” came a voice from their side. The voice came from a classmate, Allen. Apart from Alice, he’s probably the only classmate Akuma actually remembers. Sorry Emily.

He was the tall, good-looking type. The kinda guy that’s loved by pretty much everyone. Even his grades are top notch. Of course, Akuma never bothered to check the test scores of the lesser folks -commoners if I’m feeling bold.

Akuma was a bit hesitant on how to address this particular Neanderthal. It’s not like they were friends or anything. He was one of those people who had fun with you and smiled with you but deep down they’d laugh as you suffer. The passive aggressive type. You know the ones.

(I know your game pal. But I guess I can keep you around to kill time.)

He’s lying. Akuma is infamous around the school for having a terrible personality. Most students avoid him like the plague. And because he spends all his time watching anime, he’s not in touch with anything typical students enjoy. In other words. He has no friends.

With a warm, welcoming smile Akuma answered, “Of course-”

“Thanks.” He didn’t skip a beat planting his butt in that chair. I question if he even heard him say yes or if he just sat regardless of what he’d answered. “Soo... Are you two dating?”

“N-No! Why would you even say such a thing!?” Emily rejected.

(I mean you’re not lying… Bu why did you reject it so fast…)

“Figured. I mean who would hang out with the infamous God Akuma!” He said, beginning to laugh.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t call me that.”

“Hmm? Oh, my bad-my bad. Didn’t mean to rile you up. But I thought you liked being called God? You always go around saying you’re one.”

(The reality is. I don’t really know why I call myself God. I try my hardest to remember but every time I come out blank. And if I strain myself too hard my head starts burning. It’s as if something is forcibly blocking me from recalling my childhood. Yet without a doubt in my mind… I know I’m God.)

“Well, I do-” Suddenly, he found himself clenching his head as he braced for an oncoming headache.

(Wait… has this happened before? No what am I talking about, this is the first time the three of us ever sat together… But why do I feel like this happened before… Like I’m reliving something I already did.)

“Are you alright, Akuma?” Emily worriedly questioned.

“Y-Yeah. I’m fine. Just a little headache.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

(No, this definitely happened already. If I’m correct, in a moment Allen’s about to piss me off.)

“Relax, Emily. The God said he was fine so us lower folks should just believe him.”

(Right on the money. After school, I’m so gonna kick his ass.)

“You should stop saying things like that…”

“!”

“?”

“…You’ve been nothing but rude to Akuma since you sat here. And if I’m being honest, it’s starting to irritate me. All anyone does it go on and on about him being some Royal God.”

“Well yeah. That what he calls himse-”

“Yes, he calls himself God, but…but… he doesn’t mean it the way that you guys think he does!”

There was a time where Akuma wanted nothing more than to be accepted by these lousy students. He desperately wanted people he could trust- people he could laugh with… He wanted friends. The thought that as long as he kept believing, then one day, he’d somehow find them. Find true friends. Three whole years went by, and he never found such people. Not even one. Though he couldn’t recall when, somewhere along the line, he’d given up on that fairytale.

But here he was. Seeing-no, living in that very fairy tale. And he was strung along by a girl he barely met. He was left speechless. I couldn’t even begin to describe the feeling swelling up within him. There was no doubt in Akuma’s mind. Had he met this girl earlier. She would’ve been his first true friend.

*Booom!! *Rumble!

The sounds of the cafeteria mobs were swallowed whole by this one. It rang loudly in everyone's ear. Some covered them, some closed their eyes, and some looked around in a panicked motion. In the next moment, the cafeteria lights went out.

(Did the lights go out? No. This feeling…)

A nasty shiver slithered down his spine as the memory of the restaurant came back to his mind.

“W-What’s going on?!” Allen stuttered.

It was then that the cafeteria -filled with nothing but whispers and gossip- let out its first scream. "AHHHHH!" It was the sound of a girl coming from the back. Everyone snapped their necks to face the origin of the sudden scream. Some squinted to try and see despite the lights being turned off. Most grabbed their phones and turned on their flashlights in hopes of catching a glimpse.

And it was at that moment the students heard a louder sound. A sound that dwarfed the scream in comparison.

*POWW!! *POWW!!

It took just those two shots to send the students into chaos. They screamed and squealed to the point that even a deaf man would cover his ears.

Like a pack of cheap sardines, they forced their way to the only exit, navigating the cafeteria from memory.

Luckily for Akuma, he was gone before he even heard the shots. And he made sure to grab Emily and Allen too.

“Sorry guys. I know I just grabbed you out of…”

*Flop!

"…nowhere."

He had turned to face the two while apologetic about suddenly grabbing them, but there was no one. Not a single person behind him. Instead, it was their hands -the very ones he was holding- on the floor. Just. There. He could only watch as the remaining blood contained within them leaked out onto the cold tile floor.

(W-What the hell is this…? For some reason I’m not even surprised. It's like... I saw this coming. What’s going on with me?!)

Once again, he could feel a sudden headache come over the right side of his dome. I took a moment to alleviate the pain by clenching the right side of his face. After letting the pain settle, he turned his attention back to the severed hands resting on the floor.

(When did this even happen? And where are their bo-)

*CRACK!!

His thoughts were interrupted when suddenly -without warning- the wall to his right burst open. It wasn’t a powerful push, as the debris only traveled about 5 inches before falling to the floor. But it was enough to widen his eyes and jolt his back from sudden fright.

Bursting out the broken wall was something he’d only ever seen in video games. Its skin was a witch’s soup. Its hair was a dead gray color -most likely from lack of melanin. And the strangest thing was that he was wearing a military uniform.

Akuma leaped back and immediately took a defensive stance.

(The hell is that?! His skin… It's so green and it’s falling off the bone. And this smell. Uggh. Wait. His outfit… Is that a unifo-?)

In the middle of his thought, he found himself dodging to the left. And as he did, he felt something graze his right ear. He could only infer what had grazed him. And it looks like he wouldn’t have to think hard at all. Infront of him, a zombie who looked just like his math teacher. And in his palm, a small handgun with smoke trailing from the barrel. The wall the bullet shot through turned green and corroded away.

(My situation is certainly dire. I mean there’s a zombie straight out of Hollywood right before my eyes. Not to mention my two classmates who suddenly vanished. So why… can’t I stop smiling.)

Villian-like chuckles could be heard down this hallway. And they were coming from him.

“Stand still for me, teach… I’ve been meaning to try this move.”

Just then, a black meteor shower formed around him and condensed into his right palm. Then.

*PShewww!

A large beam erased the zombie’s upper half and left holes in every wall it connected behind him.

“… Holy shit. I sounded just like an isekai mc! That's always been on my bucket list!”

The boy jumped for joy as he celebrated his easy victory. And to put the cherry on top, he even checked off something on his “Isekai Mc” list.

“What even is this thing anyways…? Huh. I guess it really was a zombie. Ewww, his flesh is still moving.” The part of his skin closest to the hole in his body wiggled around like worms. I could only assume he was trying to regenerate. Though if that was the case, then his regeneration was pretty dogshit. “…So, what now.”

“What now, indeed.”

“!”

A sudden voice came from his left, but he never heard them approaching. Nor did he feel their presence until the moment they spoke. And trust me, he wouldn't miss a presence like this.

The hairs on his body stiffened like a teenage boy in summer heat. He could feel every pour on his skin as they cried like babies. In the middle of it all he forgot to even swallow. And strangely, he felt an itch coming from my lower back.

(Who is that?!)

*Tap! *Tap!

The sounds of their boots as they tapped against the tile floor echoed into in his mind to the point of driving him mad. Slowly he turned my head to face the tapping sounds. Either the lights in the hallways had also gone out, or he was having tunnel vision.

(No. What is that?!)

For a moment the thing before didn’t even seem human. It was more like an undiscovered beast. No, that’s still not right. It was like the monster parents described to their children to keep them in check.

The mysterious boy had a military uniform, like the one worn by the zombie. Yet unlike the zombie, he had skin as pale as Dracula’s. His hair was dark black, and you could see a golden strand trail down the side of his nose. He stood with both arms behind his back as if to say, “I am the commander of this army”.

“What-”

“Silence boy! You will hail me!" he declared while shifting to a saluting stance.

One of Akuma’s earliest memories is from when he was 7 years old.

He was sparring with my father and brother in a rocky biome -the top of a mountain. One close to their home. Their father was teaching the two a martial art he stole from watching a couple “warriors” as he said. A little old school if you ask me -I mean seriously, warriors? In this day and age? But the point is, ever since that day, Akuma has fought numerous battles. Some against his brother, some against my father, and even unfortunate pedestrians who pissed me off. He fought battles against anyone and anything, harmed or unarmed. And over time, he started to develop a skill. A handy skill if I might add. He had the ability to estimate a person’s strength with just a single glance. How they plant their feet. The aura they exude. And even the way they breathe. These were all giveaways that he could notice from a mere glance. Which is why he knew for a certain fact…

This boy… is dangerous.