Akari was confused. They had spent their entire childhood together. She always watched what he did. She knew his personalities. What he likes and dislikes.
She knew he would never keep a secret from her. She knew that, although he hates some people, he would never resort to such actions. So how?
How in the world, does a sixteen year old, have the capability to kill 24 people? How? It just doesn't make sense.
"Where are we?" Haruno Shimizu, one of the girls from the class asked. "What happened?"
"Did I... die?!" Another girl asked in terror.
"C..Calm down, Kaori. You wouldn't be standing next to me if you were."
Haruno then realized that they weren't at school. They were somewhere extremely bright. A place that looked like it didn't have walls.
While still looking around, suddenly another student appeared next to them. His sudden appearance gave the already frightened Kaori a jump scare. She jumped and hid behind Haruno.
"Hachi?"
"Hano? I mean, Haruno? What happened? Where... Where are we?"
"I don't know. Do you have your phone? Try calling someone."
He didn't hesitate to reach for his pocket and grab his phone. No luck.
"There's no service."
Haruno was irritated. She wanted to figure out what happened and where they were.
"Were we kidnapped?" She asked.
"No. That's unlikely." Kaori responded.
Before she could explain, another classmate appeared. Then another, then another.
"What the heck is happening?"
Eventually, Taneki also appeared. And when he did, they were scared out of their minds. After him, Akari also appeared.
Now, all 25 students and one teacher were standing side by side. And, now that there were many of them, a conclusion of their situation was easier to come up with.
"Welcome my future heroes." A woman with a beautiful voice spoke to them. She couldn't be seen though.
"Welcome, to heaven. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the goddess of this world, she who is worshipped by all humans and is feared by all evil."
Akari was confused. First, all of her friends and classmates were killed by someone whom she thought she was close to. Now, she stands together with the dead in an unfamiliar place, listening to someone calling herself a goddess.
How did she get there? She wasn't killed. Why is she there? She wasn't killed. What is she doing there? She wasn't killed. And how is Taneki with them? Didn't he kill the others?
She felt like everything she's ever learnt about logic and reason was just thrown out the window.
If they're talking to the goddess, that means that they are most likely in heaven. But how are they in heaven. Not a single one of them deserves it. Was her concept of good and evil just, wrong?
There are bullies and trash talkers there. There's a little murderer standing with them.
Then she began thinking about it. Taneki killed. That makes him a murderer. But she doesn't want to call him that.
She was lost in thoughts and never listened to what the others were talking about. When she looked at Taneki pitifully, she noticed how he was looking at the goddess angrily.
Then suddenly, he saw him fall right through the ground, or whatever they were standing on. She was shocked when she saw where he fell. She saw clouds at a much lower altitude than they were. Now she really believed that they were in heaven.
'There's no way he'll be okay after falling from this height.' She thought. But what could she do? Should she jump after him? That's stupid. Should she talk to the goddess about it?
It was too late though. The hole in the ground had sealed and, judging by the fact that the goddess continued talking like that never happened, she doubted that she'll listen to her.
But what made Taneki fall? Did she do that to him? Why though? Because he's, a killer?
"Now then, my heroes. Let me explain how things will continue moving forward."
Akari had doubts about her. She was also angry about what she did to Taneki. But she didn't know that her feelings were showing through her expressions, and the goddess could see it clearly.
"You mentioned earlier that we're going to a world of swords and magic, like a video game." Hagiwara started. Akari hadn't even noticed that he was standing next to her.
"Yes that is true. Let me guess, your next question will be about your safety. It makes sense that you'd ask that."
"That's right. If this world is just as I described, that means that there are monsters, which would be all the more reason for calling us heroes." The other classmates agreed with the point he was making.
'Are they serious?' Akari thought. None of them reacted to the fact that, one, Taneki, the one that killed them was standing there together with them. And two, that he just fell from wherever they were. Somewhere so high that the clouds were below them. He just fell to what looked like a forest. And no one talked about it.
"While it may be true," The goddess responded. "They are not much of a threat to youngsters. You will always be protected by those older than you. Not only that, but you'll all be reborn into successful families that have the money necessary for comfortable living. That way, the only difference you'll feel to your own world will be the lack of technology."
That comment divided them. While some were okay with it and even celebrated the fact that they will be born into rich families, others weren't too happy about it.
No screens, no internet, that must've sounded like hell to the ones that weren't happy about it.
"Can't we just go back to our world?" One girl asked.
"Yeah. I mean, I was just a normal high schooler. I already had everything I had ever wanted. And I had plans for what I wanted in the future. Being a hero was not one of them." Her friend supported her.
"Why reject the offer when you haven't even heard the benefits?" The goddess asked.
"Benefits?"
"Think about it. Your standing in front of a deity. Most people consider that a blessing. Imagine being a hero for an entire world. You'll be honored, awarded. All the treasures you've ever wanted. Money, fame, harems."
The boys got exited. But some girls got disgusted.
"If it's attention you want from others, you'll get it. If you want them to care about you, they will."
Akari noticed something about her manner of speech.
"And you know the good thing about it. It's all guaranteed. After all, the heroes always win. The heroes are always, what you call, overpowered."
With every word she said, she pulled in more and more people to her side. By then, she already stated all the desires that most boys and girls have. But Akari wasn't buying it.
According to her, those don't sound like the kinds of things a god would say. From what she was always taught, gods despise those who give in to their humanly desires.
And yet, she just offered money, fame, and power. The three things that have plagued mankind from the beginning of time. The kinds of desires that have led to theft, senseless killings, corruption and war.
"So, is it a demon lord that we're fighting?" Riku asked.
"Yes, among other things like monsters and such."
With every question she's asked, with every sentence she says, she talks in a manner that's more comfortable to them.
'That's it.' Akari had come to a conclusion. 'She's studying us. She says something, sees how we react, then...'
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain in her head, as if someone stabbed it. It was so painful that even her vision got blurry. Still, even though she couldn't see it clearly enough to prove it, she knew that the goddess did something to her.
"Now then, have we come to an agreement?" The goddess asked.
A loud cheer of happiness came from the classmates. Hagiwara was stunned. He couldn't believe that they just agreed to something like that. It's the literal definition of life changing and they agreed to it, seemingly without a second thought.
Like they were hypnotized.
"That's wonderful. Oh. I forgot to mention that, since you're being reborn, you'll all become babies again. But your consciousness will still be active even as newborns. So I hope you can bear with it. That's all. Bye now."
One by one, they began to vanish into thin air, until only Akari, who's head was still throbbing in pain, and the goddess were left together.
No words were exchanged. But they did look into each other's eyes for a significant amount of time.
She didn't trust the goddess. Doubt lingered about her, and the goddess knew about it. But no conversation was held. She just disappeared like all the rest.
In the star filled night sky of the new world, Distortion of the air and light from the stars could be seen from a far. Like a giant drop of water had splashed into the sky and caused a giant ripple.
At the very center of that ripple, multiple shooting stars flew from it into all directions. They went to every nation in the continent. And they all landed inside multiple different houses and mansions.
This phenomenon was caught by a few priests from the Holy Kingdom.
A blessing, they said. A blessing from the goddess.
They one they spoke of was now sitting on her throne, seemingly watching something intently, when a voice spoke to her in her head.
"You see now, the mistake you've made." It was a man's voice.
"Yes I have, Michael."
"You should thank me for bringing that girl along. She could be the one to fix what you just broke."
"Yes. Yes she could."