Classroom of the Elite: Monster Academy

Kushida IV - Corruption

An echo of a fading screech could be heard in the air, once, twice, one after another. Atop the mountain of the source, sat a solitary man. It had been days since he last came down to this cavern yet the aura he radiated remained as mighty and terrifying as when he first arrived. His eyes were sharp and fierce, a far cry from the warm and tender gaze that he shows to his daughter. With a vigilant eye, he surveyed his surroundings and let out a deep sigh.

He recalled the memory from a few months ago. That golden hue, those orbs that reflect the world in a mesmerizing display of colors, an otherworldly sight... a horrifying sight.

"It's not here either..." he murmured amid the silence.

That was the night of his daughter's birthday. As a soldier, especially for someone of his position, he does not have the luxury to do what he wants. As such, he had no choice but to answer as soon as he was called upon.

An argument? Of course, it happened. His wife was seething, it had been so long since the three of them were together and yet it was cut so abruptly.

"There was an emergency," he excused, but of course there was no way something like that was enough. But regardless, his wife knew that she was but a mere civilian, military affairs were not something she can intrude upon and relented.
"You go tell Kikyou, yourself." she said.

With heavy steps, he walked towards his daughter's room. It was regretful, but there was nothing he could do about it... a cog in the machine, that is all he was.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

He knocked thrice, as he was used to. He waited for several moments but there was no answer. He knocked again and just like before, nothing.
Strange, he thought.

"Kikyou, I'm coming in."

He turned the knob and opened the door. It was dark, the lights were off, another thing he considered to be strange. It was still quite early, and he knew his daughter wasn't that fond of the darkness, as he would expect of a child.
Slowly, he reached out to the switch beside the door but before his fingers reached them, he froze.

There it was, amidst the darkness, golden orbs peered at him as if they were about to devour him whole, sending chills down his spine.
This was not the first time...he had seen them before, felt them before, and now, its reappearance filled him with an inescapable sense of foreboding.

What is it doing here?

"Dad...?" a voice called out.

"Kikyou? What is—" he couldn't complete his sentence. He's confused, he is worried, and most importantly, he is afraid... afraid that what he is currently thinking of has become the reality before him.

"Dad... w-what's happening... my head, there's so many voices. I-It won't stop."

A cry for help. The girl was afraid, she didn't know what was happening to her and sought the help of the person she trusts the most.

He rushed to her side and held her hand. Her fingers trembled, and so did his, both having completely different reasons. The fear of the unknown, the fear of the known.

She passed out earlier this morning and didn't remember anything about what happened in the awakening ceremony. He thought of it as something ordinary and expected as he had seen such a scenario play out multiple times before but...

Is this the reason?

He enveloped her with his soul power. Scanning her body, he searched for anything that could be considered unnatural but detected nothing, at least none of what he had thought of.