The Village Disciples

'What were those!?' Meisei rhetorically asked in silence

Currently, Ninki Meisei is hiding inside a wooden porta potty. Resembling one from the old west.

Inside the porta-potty, Meisei was trying to tame his anxiety and shock. 'Now what!?' He asked another question silently. 'More importantly; WHAT THE HELL WERE THOSE EXPLOSIONS!?'

All Meisei can remember while he was fleeing for his life was how numerous explosions were being set off and following him hot on his trail. 'What happened to Utsukushi? She was supposed to be on the lookout! Now I look bad! Dammit!' The short white-haired boy mentally cursed.

'Breathe, just breathe.' Meisei ushered himself, an attempt at calming down.

Suddenly, fast-paced footsteps started to near the porta-potty Meisei was residing in, making his fear rise even more.

"Did we lose that monster?" A voice from the outside became apparent, seemingly asking something or someone a question. Also sounds oddly familiar.

"We need to recuperate the class, our plan clearly didn't work." Another oddly familiar voice appeared, answering the other questioning voice from before.

'Wait?' Meisei stopped internally, then proceeded to slowly open the door of the porta-potty, then glancing all around. 'No one is here?' Meisei didn't spot a single person. Until-

"MEISEI!!" A 'very' loud voice screeched in Meisei's ear unsuspectedly.

Meisei had to cover his ears from the disrupting sound, praying to the gods that he won't obtain a migraine soon. But, looking over to the cause of the horrid screech, Meisei spotted Akogare with a that can and is only able to be described as pure shock.

Meisei's bodily functions seem to return as confusion and even greater shock brimmed him from within, now spotting Sukudo next to Akogare as well. Sukudo still maintained the ordinarily stoic face of his, but his eyes said it all.

'Did they also go against the explosions?' Meisei silently questioned, curious as to what they experienced themselves.

"Meisei, it was awful! A big man in huge red armor tried to kill us!" Akogare explained, making Meisei raise a brow in confusion.

"Big man in red armor?" Meisei then questioned, making Akogare and Sukudo nod.

"He didn't even appear to have any openings in his armor. But, the most concerning was that his fist singed Akogare's cheek upon it merely grazing him." Sukudo informed Meisei, intruding on the white-haired and blonde-haired kids' conversation.

"What!? Who the hell are we up against? Utsukushi and I were separated due to multiple little bombs exploding all around us!" Meisei told Akogare and Sukudo, igniting two very different reactions.

"Huh?" "WHAT!?"

Akogare adorned a look of severe shock and fear. This seemed to be too much for Class 1AB. I mean armored giants and explosives that were mobile? Oshieru didn't lie about the rivaling class being more advanced.

"We need to make some type of plan, the first one didn't work out." Meisei declared, reasoning it out.

"We need to find the others first, the four of us couldn't handle class 1AR individually, so I doubt attributing one more person to a team will do much." Sukudo disregarded Meisei's plan, for the time being, adding his reasoning.

"Then let's get moving, we're practically sitting ducks here. Besides, I think I might know where Utsukushi ended up from the sound of the explosions," Meisei announced, getting nods as a response and running off.

XXX

"Ooowww." Whimpered a very weak and exhausted Shizen Utsukushi.

As of right now, Utsukushi was laying on the ground-- burn marks appearing on her body. Her right sleeve was torn up from the explosions, her face had scuff marks, and Utsukushi's used to be bright pink hair is now caked in ashes, making it appear gray on various locations, as well as being tattered as a whole.

"Is that all?" A feminine voice suddenly whined.

A few meters away, a girl with messy walnut-brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and the same attire that the rivaling class was sporting. Red headband, chalkboard grey armor, and black martial artist pants that seemed to be a little too baggy for activities such as this.

"I was hoping to use more of my bombs." The girl said somberly, suddenly gaining a depressed look.

Utsukushi attempted to regain control of her damaged and exhausted body, crawling on the ground in the opposite direction of the crazy walnut-haired girl. As she was crawling away, the depressed girl noticed, losing any sadness and replacing it with beaming happiness.

"Where do you think you're going!? I need to use more bombs!" She declared, walking slowly towards the slightly immobile pink-haired girl.

As the walnut-haired girl kept closing in on Utsukushi, an arrow was suddenly shot and rooted into the ground in front of the walking girl-- stopping her in her tracks.

Looking to the girls' right, she saw three students wearing blue headbands running towards her. 'More of the blue auras?'

"Sukudo, now!" Akogare suddenly ordered, confusing the girl until realization dawned on her.

'I might need to leave.' The walnut-haired girl stated in a fearful tone internally.

Then, three blue magic-filled hawks were launched towards the walnut-haired girl, temporarily distracting and blinding her in the process.

"Akogare, go grab Utsukushi and escape!" Meisei directed, getting a nod from Akogare, signifying that he understood the order.

Akogare rushed over and hauled Utsukushi over his shoulder, then sprinting away from the scene. As he was running, he heard sudden explosions behind him. Turning to look back, he spotted the walnut-haired girl escaping the grasp of the three blue hawks.

The girl then raised her hands to her mouth in a calling form and shouted,

"KURORU, GOOO!"

Shortly after the girls' shout, tiny red ants emerged from the ground below. The ants all raced towards Akogare.

"EEK!" Akogare squeaked in a high-pitched voice, choosing to sprint away even faster than before. Somehow not dropping Utsukushi in the process.

As Akogare was running, he noticed the red ants circling and surrounding him, trapping him in the center of the myriad of ants. Akogare could only halt, looking around fearfully and sporadically.

The ants ran closer and closer, decreasing the size of the free space left for Akogare to stand on. Meisei and Sukudo attempted to be of assistance but only proved to be surrounded by the ants as well.

'we're screwed, huh?' Meisei silently wondered, the sudden realization of their capture setting in.

XXX

"Where the hell could they be?" Naderamu thought out loud, getting heard by Tanjo.

Naderamu and Tanjo have been running about, only spotting buildings with giant holes in the walls and small craters etched into the earth.

"I have no clue, what even happened here?" Tanjo responded to Naderamu's question. Asking one of his own.

"I don't kno-wait, Tanjo, look!" Naderamu stalled her answer, pointing in a certain direction.

Tanjo looked to where Naderamu was pointing and noticed tiny red ants crawling on the ground, all heading in one direction. 'What the?'

Naderamu could already be seen following the ants, making Tanjo rush right behind her. As they followed the ants who unknowingly guided them, they spotted where they were ultimately heading.

They immediately noticed Akogare, Sukudo, Meisei, and Utsukushi. Noting noticing their stranded state. Also taking Utsukushi's current state into account.

"What in the hell happened!? It hasn't been too long since the signal, right?" Tanjo questioned in shock and fear. Witnessing the events that are happening to his classmates before him.

"I don't know, but we need to somehow intercept the ants. Why aren't they just blowing the ants away with their magic?" Naderamu answered, adding in a question that Tanjo didn't quite know himself.

"By the way these ants are moving, it seems like they're being controlled." Naderamu theorized, making Tanjo's eyes shoot wide open.

"Naderamu, what if one of us distracts the ants or whoever is controlling them and the other one of us free's them of the ants!?" Tanjo devised, in hopes of freeing his classmates.

"What if the distraction doesn't work? We don't know if they're solely targeting those four or not." Naderamu reasoned in a questioning tone.

"It's all we have right now, it's that or we just let them get captured!" Tanjo declared, getting an understanding sigh from Naderamu.

"F-fine, then I'll be the one to distract. It would be stupid for me to free them if you have that amalgamation or whatever-- by the way, we're still going to discuss that more later, alright?" Naderamu explained, then shot Tanjo a stern look.

"Y-yes, that's ok." Tanjo agreed, nodding his head at a fast pace.

"Good. Now, wait for me to begin the distraction. If anything goes wrong on my end, continue on your part. Losing one of us is better than five." Naderamu informed.

"Will do." Tanjo acknowledged.

Tanjo then looked down at his hands, 'Please, don't spur out of control. I can see that those four are desolate of hope. If we can just get them to escape.'

XXX

Naderamu can be seen creeping behind some of the buildings, the sight of her classmates disappearing and reappearing every time she passed a building or structure.

She then stopped her stalking at the edge of the huge open area that the four students were held captive. 'I got this, I got this.' Naderamu constantly breathed in and out, hyping herself up for such an idiotic stunt.

Suddenly, Naderamu started sprinting out into the open. "HEY, ASSHOLES! I'M RIGHT HERE!" She then shouted at the top of her lungs, fortunately, or unfortunately, garnering the attention of the walnut-haired girl from before.

'Who is she?' The walnut-haired girl mentally questioned, confused as to why this screaming lunatic was exposing herself.

As for the ants, they still seemed persistent in reaching the four-stranded students. 'Shit.' Resulting in Naderamu cursing.

'Tanjo, please go through with the plan.'

XXX

'Damn, those ants do not care about anything else.' Tanjo noted to himself, then slapping his face in preparation. 'But I got this.'

"HEY, ASSHOLES! I'M RIGHT HERE!" Tanjo suddenly heard Naderamu initiate the diversion, making himself prepare for his part of the plan.

'I got this, just let the magic flow through my hands, right?' Tanjo questioned, filled with uncertainty.

Tanjo then assumed a familiar stance, his legs in a semi-crouched state, bending his arms back as if he was reeling his fists, and then waiting.

'Come on, come on!' Tanjo pleaded, attempting to push out his magic aura externally. 'No one is looking, so this should be okay, I hope!'

Shortly after Tanjo's mental pleads, he started to feel magic flow through his body, starting at his shoulders and flowing smoothly down the length of his arm.

But, something was off. The aura, it was-- 'YELLOW!?'

The aura flowing within Tanjo was currently the color yellow. Shocking and confusing Tanjo.

He understood when the old man told him about his condition-- but this is his first time seeing it, also seeing it happen at the worst time possible. Yellow was one of the weaker aura's when it came to externally producing magic, it was reserved for speeding up the human body's functions. Not amplifying strength nor shooting out strong blasts.

'Come on, not now!' Tanjo pleaded even more, 'I can't let my classmates get caught over a stupid birth defect!' Tanjo then declared, hoping that he can somehow change the color of the aura.

As Tanjo continued to do everything in his power to alter his aura, as he strained every muscle in his body, he could only hope for a tad bit of luck to benefit him in his current predicament.

Suddenly, Tanjo's aura started to flicker. The color yellow started fading ever so slightly and the color blue was forming around his arms, making his demeanor change into one of pure happiness.

'YES! Keep it coming!' Tanjo ordered himself, a wave of hope flooding Tanjo's emotions.

One thing he noticed about the aura color's transformation was that-- 'Why is it not changing anymore? A mixture of yellow and blue magic?'

With it no longer changing, Tanjo mentally begged for it to continue altering colors. But, nothing happened.

'Uh, oh.'

XXX

"Well, it looks like it is the end for us here. We lost." Sukudo somberly stated, looking back at his classmate's current state, as well as his own. "Tanjo is god knows where and Naderamu most likely lost her marbles by running out into the open as she did."

"Hey, At least we know how much stronger we can get, right guys!?" Akogare attempted to lighten the mood, still keeping Utsukushi on his shoulder-- who has also succumbed to her body's pain and blacked out.

"I- I guess so." Sukudo agreed, then noticed Meisei's quiet form.

'We looked like fools. We were completely outmatched. I hid in a porta-potty for gods' sake.' Meisei mentally reflected, embarrassment reaching Meisei's core.

Meisei then looked around one last time and noticed how close the ants were. 'Well, just like Akogare said; At least we now kn-*BOOM*'

Meisei's thoughts were interrupted as a loud noise roared all around him. A bright blue and yellow shine appeared, then being followed by a wide beam with the mixture of the colors yellow and blue.

The beam completely disintegrated every ant in its path, nearly hitting the stranded classmates as well. The beam then dissolved after roughly five seconds of flying through the air in one direction, dissipating immediately.

All of the stranded students of class 1AB looked towards the direction of where the beam came from. Looking between two structures, they spotted a very familiar student walking out from the protection of the shadows.

"TANJO!?"

XXX

Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know I did. But I am really trying to stay active. Hopefully, I can get more used to a writing schedule. Writing at a predetermined time would really be helpful. Stay tuned for more!

Have a Good Day!

Peace - Cr1ticalz_