Anime: Desolate Darkness

Class E, Grade 1.

Kimura Takumi walked into the classroom with his textbook.

As soon as they entered the classroom and saw the teacher coming, the originally noisy classroom suddenly became silent. The students closed their mouths, sat up straight, and focused their eyes on the podium.

Kimura Takumi nodded with a gentle smile, as if he was satisfied with the performance of the students.

Then he opened his textbook and continued the progress of the last lesson.

His voice is deep and magnetic, his tone is calm and organized, his explanations are vivid and interesting, and he presents complex knowledge to students in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

The students listened attentively, sometimes lowering their heads to take notes, and sometimes answering questions enthusiastically. Their thinking was constantly expanded as Kimura Takumi explained, and their understanding of the knowledge became deeper.

During the presentation, Kimura Takumi stopped from time to time and looked at the students with encouraging eyes. He would ask some key questions to guide the students to think and express their own ideas and opinions.

Time passed by minute by minute, and the long fifty minutes were about to end.

Without pulling out his cell phone to check, relying on his memory to judge that the get out of class was about to end, Kimura coincidentally took out his textbook and walked back to the podium.

"Okay, that's all for today's class. Use the remaining time to digest what you have just learned." He chuckled and left the classroom.

The students seemed to be used to it and did not show any surprise.

Seeing that the teacher was gone, Isshiki Caiyu took out her phone and looked at it, then excitedly said to her friends around her:

"Well, I told you, stay for five minutes this time!"

"Eh~? I guessed it was 7 minutes."

"Iroha was right again."

...

The response from her friends made Isshi Iroha's smile grow even brighter.

This was a little game between them, because unlike other teachers, Kimura Takumi always left some time at the end for them to digest the knowledge. Over time, they liked to bet on how much time was reserved.

"I guessed it right too!" A cute girl with bright red hair and yellow-green pupils was holding the note with numbers on it that they used to mark.

Seeing that the note also had five written on it, Isshi Iroha praised, "As expected of Kita! It's exactly what I guessed."

The girl called Kita gladly accepted the compliment and a bright and lively smile appeared on her face.

……

Shortly after Kimura Takumi left, the bell for the end of get out of class rang.

When school was over, students rushed out of the classroom in groups, laughing and talking.

Kimura Takumi came to the school parking lot, started his car, wandered around as planned, and went back to prepare dinner when it was almost time.

However, before he started driving, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his way.

"Is this true?" Kimura Takumi couldn't believe it.

"Matsusaka-san, what can I do for you?" He stuck his head out of the lowered car window and asked the girl who was blocking the road ahead.

"Teacher Kimura, could you please give me a ride and take me to the cafe? I'm working there part-time and I'm afraid I won't be able to get there in time." Matsusaka Sato said anxiously.

Compared to her lunch break, her expression was much calmer and less stiff.

But Kimura Takumi could tell at a glance that she was lying.

School has just ended. If the part-time job hours are really so tight, why would the other party choose to work there?

"Teacher Kimura, is it not possible?" She walked forward, her eyes moist, and her slightly trembling voice made people feel pity.

Not to mention that she might be lying, even if she was really late for work, she wouldn't cry, right?

Kimura Takumi admires the other person's acting skills, but does not approve of his behavior.

"Get in the car." After thinking for a moment, he opened the right back door.

Whether it was a lie or the truth, it was just a ride, and Kimura Takumi didn't bother to care. After all, he was his student.

Unexpectedly, Matsusaka Sato closed the back door, moved to the other side of Kimura Takumi, opened the passenger door and sat in.

"Thank you, teacher!" She smiled again and leaned her upper body towards the other person, almost touching him.

Kimura skillfully pushed her back with his hands and asked her to sit down, "Fasten your seat belt."

Matsusaka Sato first used both hands to touch the forehead that he had just touched, feeling the remaining warmth, and then responded with a smile: "Yeah!"

Based on the store name the other party said, Kimura Takumi remembered the exact location immediately based on his patrols in Chiba over the past few days.

But that place is about five kilometers away from the school. He couldn't help but wonder why Matsusaka Sato chose to work in such a far place, when there were obviously many shops near the school where students could work part-time.

Along the way, neither of them spoke.

Except for the initial moment when she was observing the scene inside the car, Matsusaka Sato spent the rest of the time staring at Kimura Takumi's profile. She looked at him for more than ten minutes and blinked only a few times.

Kimura Takumi noticed it, but didn't know what to say.

"We're here, Matsusaka-san, hurry in, don't be late."

The car stopped in front of the maid cafe, Kimura Takumi reminded.

"Yeah! Thank you, teacher!" Unexpectedly, Matsusaka Sato didn't seem to be reluctant to leave. After saying thank you, she quickly got off the car.

This made Kimura Takumi wonder if he was overthinking. Maybe the other party was just afraid of being late?

But he didn't have time to worry about those things. After watching the other party enter the coffee shop, he drove to start today's patrol.

For several days, no crisis occurred again.

This excessive tranquility is in stark contrast to the frequent appearances of monsters before.

But a moment of peace did not allow Kimura Takumi to relax.

He fully understands that there may be undercurrents all over the world. He is the only one who has the ability to resolve the threat of monsters. How dare he stand still?

On a planet with roughly the same gravity as Earth, two giants are fighting.

Boom!

Mephisto was careless and took the fireball of the alien beast Zetton head-on. He flew backwards at the speed of light and severely destroyed several mountains.

Resist the waves~!

A giant hand stretched out from a pile of rocks, and Mephisto climbed up with difficulty.

His chest was heaving violently, and it was obvious that the previous blow had caused him considerable damage.

Has the gap narrowed that much?

Only a few days had passed, and without relying on weapons and skills, he was no match for the Alien Beast Zetton at full power.

After ordering the Alien Beast Zetton to stop attacking, Mephisto sat down heavily.

My own progress is minimal, but the other party's progress is visible to the naked eye. This gap is really frustrating...

“I should be able to do better.”

Mephistopheles looked up, raised his right hand, spread out his five fingers, and looked through his fingers at the sun, which was about one light year away from him, with mixed feelings in his heart.

After finishing his morning exercise, Kimura Takumi dragged his seriously injured body back home and drove to school.

(Tuesday, April 2018.4.30, )

……